It has been another big year for Ferrets and Friends, LLC.  This year, we debuted a new package system to create more flexibility for our customers.  Our macaw parrot has been a popular new addition to our already diverse and colorful crew.  We updated our reptile enclosures to a great new setup from Animal Plastics.  We also moved to a larger and more spacious location to provide more space for all of our animals friends.

We added three new species to our shows this year including our African Pygmy Hedgehog, Harlequinn Macaw, and Mexican Red Knee Tarantula.  For 2019, we are not planning on adding any new species to our collection.  Instead, we will be partnering with Astoria Dressage to add pony party packages next summer. 

Unfortunately this year, we said goodbye to quite a few of our cherished animals stars and an excellent animal educator.  Miss Lina is no longer with Ferrets and Friends and has relocated with her animals.  Over the past couple years, she shared her passion for animals at a total of 122 events and worked hard on our social media accounts and marketing.  We thank her for her hard work and wish her the best in her future endeavors!

While we said goodbye to some of our animal friends due to this change, we also experiences some significant deaths.  Two of our ferrets, Samson and Ramona, passed away this spring.  Samson retired earlier this year due to the progression of his insulinoma.  We lost Samson shortly after his sixth birthday.  Ramona had an unexpected and unknown illness for which she was humanely euthanized during an emergency veterinary visit.  She was five years old when she passed.  We regret to say that ferret lifespans are far too short and healthy ferrets can suddenly become extremely ill in a short amount of time.  It is important to find out in advance about what emergency veterinary services near you are equipped to care for ferrets.

In 2018, our animals have had fewer illnesses than they did in the previous year.  This is mostly due to the average age of our ferrets.  In 2017, we had four ferrets over the age of three years old which is a common age for ferrets to become ill.  After our two oldest ferrets passed in the spring, our oldest ferret is now Jack who is three years old.  Unfortunately, Jack was diagnosed with adrenal disease this summer.   The good news is that his hormone implant has been working great so he has been his happy, active, and fluffy self!  

This year, two of our new bunnies had their spay surgeries and both went well!  Jessica even had a bit of a surprise for our vet as she actually had internal male parts instead of female.  Our vet was very confused when he couldn't find what he was looking for originally.  She's a very special bunny!  After the spay, some of Wednesday's territorial behavior significantly decreased.  Getting bunnies spayed is important for their health as it eliminates their risk for uterine or ovarian cancer.

Jasmine (Chinese Water Dragon) and Domino (Green Cheek Conure) have continued laying eggs this year.  Our leopard gecko, Cici, has stopper laying eggs.  In her older age, she seems to be slowing down and has been struggling with a cyst on her eye which we have been monitoring with our veterinarian.  She is currently being retired from animal shows as our younger leopard gecko, Fiona, takes her place.

This fall, the owner of Ferrets and Friends met with the Executive Director of Pets on Wheels.  Pets on Wheels is a nonprofit organization that provides pet therapy visits to a variety of settings.  After a an wellness check from our veterinarian and a thorough examination from Gina (Executive Director at Pets on Wheels), we are excited to announce that two of our ferrets, two of our parrots, and our panther chameleon have all passed the temperament screening to be therapy animals.  We couldn't be more proud of our animal friends!  So far, Jubilee has been popular with Hospice of the Chesapeake making her visits to patients in a variety of settings.  

This year, we added eight animals to our care.  Four of our new additions have been doing a great job as animal ambassadors and we are waiting for the remaining four to finish their quarantine period.  We added two ferrets (Aurora & Logan), a Harlequinn Macaw (Jubilee), a Veiled Chameleon (Bruce), a Chinese Water Dragon (Hiccup), a Blue Tongue Skink (Loki), a Colombian Red-tail Boa (Thor), and a baby king snake (name pending).  Of these animals, only one had a previous home.  Thor is a two year old albino boa constrictor and already measures an impressive five feet in length.  We are excited for him to make his official debut next year!

Currently, Ferrets and Friends has 45 animals in our care.  Of those animals, about 40 animals are being used in shows at the time of writing.  Next year, we hope to start offering packages with some Equine friends.  Rebecca, our animal educator, has been hard at work rehabilitating two ponies and training them to interact with people.  They have made great improvements this past summer in riding lesson and camps.  We hope to feature them in some new packages for 2019.  

Have you been waiting for an opportunity to see our animal friends in person?  Check us out at the World of Pet Expo on January 25th-27th.  It is located at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, MD.  There will be lots of vendors and performances. For more information, visit www.worldofpets.org.  Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you in 2019!

It has been a busy year for Ferrets and Friends, LLC!  We have had significant growth, performing twice as many shows in 2017 as 2016.  We have also seen some growth in the diversity and number of animal friends!  This year, we debuted two new species (the chinchilla and the Sonoran Desert Millipede) and we added three new species that we are hoping to debut next year (the African pygmy hedgehog, the Mexican red knee tarantula, and the African bullfrog).  It has been an exciting time for our animal educators to learn and work with these new animal friends.

Unfortunately, this year we also had some significant losses.  In 2017, we said goodbye to Gambit (ferret), Sophie (ferret), Honey (Palomino Blonde Tarantula), Capheus (Jackson Chameleon), and Paisley (South American Horned Frog).  Our ferrets, Gambit and Sophie, have been with Ferrets and Friends since the beginning.   We lost Sophie in early 2017 due to Ferret-FIP and we lost Gambit in the fall of 2017 after medications for his insulinoma were no longer effective.  Both were about six years old at their time of death.  Ages are unknown for Honey (tarantula), Capheus (chameleon), and Paisley (frog), but it is believed that Honey and Capheus passed away from old age.  Paisley (frog) passed away due to unknown causes and was less than one year old at her time of death. 

At Ferrets and Friends, we value taking care of our animals in both illness and health.  We are grateful for their hard work and cooperation. This year, we had some significant surgeries.  Samson (ferret, five years old) had a surgery to amputate one of his toes and Ramona (ferret, four years old) had a surgery to remove bladder stones.  Due to the increasing health problems that ferrets experience as they age, we have decided to start a retirement process for our ferrets beginning at age five.  Currently, Samson will be semi-retired, but he is still showing interest in going to events.  After all, snuggling is Samson's favorite activity!

Other health updates include egg laying by our Leopard Gecko (Cici), Chinese Water Dragon (Jasmine), and Green Cheek Conure (Domino).  It is important to make sure that any egg-laying animals have lots of exercise for strong muscles and calcium to replace what is lost when they are laying eggs.  None of our animal friends showed any signs of egg binding and they continue to be active and healthy.

So how much does it cost to keep our animals healthy and happy?  In 2017, our animals cost over $9,000 in veterinary bills alone!  Other animal care costs (including food, substrate, toys, heat and lighting equipment, and enclosures) totaled over $10,000.  This does not include the human labor that goes into maintaining enclosures, socializing, and training our animal friends.

This year, we added a whopping 23 new animal friends to our care!  Of those twenty-three animals, nine of them were rehomed animals or rescues.  Sixteen animals were acquired as potential animal ambassadors.  Some of these animals have already started doing shows in 2017: Tarzan & Jane (Leopard Tortoises), Riley, Pabu, & Abu (ferrets), Bumi (chinchilla), Tucker (Kenyan Sand Boa), and the Sonoran  Desert Millipedes.  

Currently, Ferrets and Friends has 58 animals in our care.  Not all of these animals are used for shows (currently about 35 are show ready at the time of writing).  It's not uncommon for people to inquire whether we are accepting exotic pets that are being re-homed.  In fact, over a quarter of our animals have previously had other homes before they arrived in our care. This is why we encourage people to thoroughly research any exotic pet that they may want.  These animals are dependent on us to provide for their care and many can have demanding care requirements.

Most of our animals that are used in shows, we have raised from a young age.  Shows can be stressful environments for these animals so we want to be sure that they are well socialized and they have temperaments that are appropriate for working around children.   Rehomed and rescued animals can make great animal ambassadors, too!  Each animal friends is unique.

Here's to an even better 2018!  Happy New Year from your favorite animal friends!