Ferret Shelter Woes

It's just me, doing what I like to do.. Bitch.

Anyways, I started my own non profit ferrets shelter back in June, I have taken in 12 ferrets that I intend to find homes for. I have 6 ferrets that are mine ( I have a total of 18 ferrets), I will not rehome them for anything.

Problems that I have encountered:

People wanting me to just give them the ferrets for free, I will not do this, I have a small adoption fee to help cover food, vet (I have a vet that does not charge me much at all to examine them) and other things that they need.. The adoption fee is 50$, which is not much considering that they are 150$ at a pet store.

People wanting me to let them adopt my own personal ferrets.. Especially since I tell them that only the ferrets I let out of the cage to play in the play area are the ones up for adoption.. They don't understand why they can't have Jill, I tell them that not only is she mine and is 5 years old she also has adrenal diesease with a Melatonin implant to arrest the diesease. Most people also want Cinnamon (He has the quite rare cinnamon coloring, kinda reddish) Cinnamon is my own personal ferret. Yes, I know Hobs is cute with the stripe on his head.. He is also my own personal ferret and he is also deaf and Jills "mate" he is 5 years old. bottom line, they seem to go right for my ferrets that I keep in the cage that I say are not up for adoption.. The ones in the play area are the ones up for adoption.. Choose one of them.

People freaking out when they break into their War Dance (ferrets while dance around as if to say "Come on, let's play!") and people think they are getting ready to attack.

No, they do not come with cages.. I need all the cages I have.

No, you can not feed them cheap cat food, ferrets can not handle grains such as corn.. There are only 3 ferret foods that I approve of and those are meat based ones.. Yes, I know they are expensive, but that comes with the whole ferret territory.

No, that are not rodents, they are mustilids, same family as the weasle and otter.. I don't care what you say.. They are NOT rodents, I know they look like large rats, but trust me, they aren't.

No, they can't stay in their cage all the time, they need a lot of outside the cage playtime.

No, they aren't lap animals.

Yes, they do need yearly vet exams and yearly shots and yes you must provide a vet refference.

If you have 3 kids under 4, I will not let you adopt one of my ferrets.. You already have your hands full with the kids.. I don't care if your kids begged for a ferret for Christmas.. I am very leary of letting anyone adopt a ferret for a Christmas present, but I will make exceptions if you answer all my questions to my liking.

Don't like it? Go buy your own damn ferrets and woe betide you if I find out you aren't taking care of them.

While none of the ferrets have ever bitten me, remember, if it has a mouth, it can bite.

Don't get all pissy with me because I won't let you adopt a ferret because you can't answer the simplest questions about them.

Yes, they do like to steal stuff.. In fact Ferret means "thief".

Don't call me up at 4 in the morning to come get a ferret that I let you adopt because it "won't stop banging the water bottle" it's only doing that because the bottle is empty and it's thirsty.. I will not only put you on my blacklist, but every blacklist in a 200 mile radius.. Plus it makes me feel like an ass that I trusted you.

If you do not want or can not care for your ferret anymore I will not buy it from you.. I am a shelter, in addition if you adopt a ferret and wait past the 3 days I allow to return the ferrets with no questions asked, I will not give you the adoption fee back.

Yes, it is like having a 2 year old for a few years.. Plus you have to ferret proof your home, which is 10 times worse than baby proofing as ferrets are much smaller and can squeeze into much smaller spaces.

I have them color coded with collars. The same color collars means that they are cage mates and can't be seperated.. Doing so will cause them severe emotional trauma and they will probably die from depression. I will not split cage mates up.

Yes, they do stink even when they are descented.. Bathing them more often than every 6 weeks will cause them to stink even more.

Ok, I am done bitching on this subject.

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