I had wanted a ferret for a long long time & not being able to find any good breeders in my area, I went into the only pet shop which deals with them in my city & ordered one to come just after I finished my final exams so I'd have time over the summer to spend with it while it grew up before starting college.
When I went in to pick up my long awaited ferret I saw to my horror that the pet shop had ordered about 20 ferrets, & crammed them all into one tiny cage. There is little to no demand for pet ferrets where I live so that was really worrying. I had already known the pet shop wasn't the best, but I didn't have a lot to work with. Still, I didn't think they'd do this.
I had fun handling the ferrets & I was torn between two, a cinnamon & an albino, both female like I wanted. I settled on the cinnamon (at least I think that's what she is, I can't really differentiate between cinnamons & champagnes).
So Wyvern waddled into my life. Ferrets really remind me of Asian dragons with their long slinky bodies (especially the one in Spirited away, "Haku") & I was stuck for a name so chose Wyvern, which is a name for a two legged bat-like dragon. She quickly came accustomed to life as a shoulder ferret. She learned to go into town, on walks, buses, shops etc with me by perching on my shoulder, & crawling into the hoods of my jackets when she gets sleepy for a nap. Sometimes she likes resting in my bag too if it's cold, rainy or if there are too many people around. She has a leash & harness & collar too, but she doesn't walk very fast & I don't walk her in places with too many people in case someone steps on her by accident (or on purpose, some people really seem to hate ferrets for some reason).
It took me a while to get used to a ferrets body & vocal language, & it took her a while to learn to bite gently, but we got there in the end. Litter tray training never happened: she just knew what to do straight away & she's perfectly clean. She likes playing with my dog but gets sleepy quickly & climbs up my leg & into my arms when she wants a break. She's also very greedy & if I'm eating/drinking anything she will wait on my shoulder/head & try to shove her face in-between my mouth & the food to get it first if she can
So about a month later I went back to the pet shop to pick up something & I went to check up on the ferrets. The were still cramped in that tiny cage in their own filth & the little albino female I had wanted hadn't grown at all. Poor nutrition & too much competition for food had stunted her growth. I asked if I could handle her on a whim & the shop owner opened the cage & hit back all the other ferrets roughly, grabbed her by her head & she started squeaking & thrashing. He dropped her in my hands & walked away to deal with another customer. She was terrified & very fear aggressive. Her bones were protruding & her coat was wet from urine & very yellow (yellow casts to a ferrets coats aren't necessarily an indication of poor health, but when they are that extreme in such a young ferret it's a god indication of poor diet & overall care). She kept biting & drawing blood but my mind was made up, I wasn't leaving her.
So I bought her & walked with my friends to the bus stop to take her home. They had all met Wyvern & loved her, but they seriously doubted her sister could be tamed, she was very, very bitey & kept hissing. They suggested naming her after some horror movie monsters, but I decided on Princess Bubblegum partially for irony, partially after a character from Adventure Time. So that as my second ferret bought & named.
She was admittedly difficult to tame. Things got better once I learned that she was only really afraid of hands & faces, because I think, that was all she saw of people in the pet shop high up in her cage. Unusually for a ferret she didn't bite feet. She put on weight & lost a lot of that dirty yellow shade to her fur once she was on a better diets (Mine get a mixture of things: James Wellbeloved kibble, lamb, beef, chicken, bones to knaw on, & fish. they also love chicken feet to knaw on).
She never really became a good people ferret or a shoulder ferret. She LOVES play wrestling with my dog though
they spend hours together chasing each other around the house & they're never too rough with each other. PB doesn't really like new people, & sadly she managed to kill my two Egyptian Spiny mice soon after her arrival so she isn't really liked by anyone but me & my dog XD Wyvern just ignores her mostly ;) She doesn't bite me anymore & actually is more affectionate than Wyv now! She insists on licking my face every morning while I make their breakfast & nuzzles against my chin & neck. They both loves stealing anything made of rubber & we are constantly engaged in a battle of epic proportions to the rights on my ink bottles as they have rubber syringe/dropper style caps which they love. When they puncture these caps they end up covered in ink & I end up with rainbow ferrets to wash xD
