My gorgeous pets.

My animals are really important to me, so I'm going to tell you a little bit about them. We have three ferrets, two boys and a girl. Despite what people think, ferrets aren't vicious, overly smelly or rodents! They are actually carnivorous and would rather eat a rodent than play with it...They are highly intelligent, playful, lovable creatures that crave companionship from other ferrets and their humans, and they can live for up to 10 years. They are unique little rascals with their own individual personalities. They each have a favourite food/treat, toy and habit! They have a vast array of noises and gestures to communicate with their handlers and other ferrets, such as 'dooking' an adorable squeaky noise they make when happy, hissing when annoyed and they can also wag their tail much like a dog! Ours tend to tail wag only when playing with each other in their tunnels, it's a much rarer but very endearing behaviour! Seeing a ferret dooking and 'dancing' around when delirious with joy is just so special to watch, it's like nothing you've ever seen before!

We have two Albino males, named Alfie and Shiro, who may seem creepy to some due to their red eyes but they're just as adorable and friendly as any other ferret. Albino is simply another type of ferret, like polecat coloured and silvers. They're just over 1 year old now, we've had them for about 9 months and I couldn't imagine life without them! Our new little girl is called Lola and is a slightly more unusual colour. She's a 3 month old sable blaze mitt, who is into absolutely everything at the moment and is learning very quickly! I can't wait to take her to ferret shows with the boys and start showing her off! If anyone wants to learn more about ferrets and keeping ferrets then you could check out my other blog (FerretDook) completely devoted to the subject here. For now, here they are!

Shiro

Alfie

Lola on her first day with us.

Lola.

Alfie asleep on his 'daddy' :)

Shiro isn't short of cuddles either!

We also have a Syrian hamster called Faye. She's 11 months old at the moment and we've had her for 10 months. Syrian hamsters are also known as golden hamsters, and are one of the most popular pets, especially for young children. They are fairly low maintenance pets, not ever really needing to visit the vets in most cases. Unfortunately, although they are commonplace here now as we breed them for sale at pet shops and the like, they are now seen as vulnerable in the wild, as we are destroying their natural habitat. They usually live for 1 1/2 to 2 years although they have been known to live for four years! She has a fairly large Rotastak system, which I've collected over the years, comprising of several compartments and tubing for her to explore. She gets a hamster mix feed and fresh fruit/veg daily if possible. Hamsters tend to only eat what they want and stash the rest in a food store, which is why I can't understand how some people manage to make their hamsters overweight! All three of mine have been skinny little things, even with additional treats like cheese every so often! Faye is quite a reclusive hamster, so we don't get to take too many photos, but here she is.

Faye.

Faye with a couple of her toys for outside play.