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Ashbury:

Ashbury's story

Ashbury was a hob up until the first part of May, 1998. He was born in July,1997. He was for sale at the GLFA show on May 16,1998. They said he should be fine with people, but maybe not with other ferrets. So Brandon bought him with his own money.

When they got him home, along with another Panda named Pooh, he was rough with them, but got along with Pooh just fine. I can't remember how long they had had him, but he finally bit Sandi's finger to the bone. All four teeth left scars on her finger, and he would not let go. I told her later that she should have put his head under running water.

Now she was completely afraid of him. And as the days went by, she could not get over her fear. She talked of having him put to sleep. I was picking the boys up after work everyday, so I had Brandon put him in the carrier. We brought him home just to give him a bath. I also called Rainbow Ferretry and left a message. I knew we couldn't have him put down. And he was such a sweet boy.

We took him back home, and Roger and I continued our discussion on what to do with Ashbury. At first, we were going to send Simon home and keep Ashbury. Then Roger decided that Simon would probably just get out again. And he'd blame himself. Sandi also said later that the dog would in all likelihood still scare Simon just as bad as before. So we finally agreed that we would keep Ashbury for awhile and see how it worked out. Elle called back from the Rainbow Ferretry, and we said we would keep him for now.

He is deaf, I'm almost 100% sure. I can never get him to pay attention, clapping of hands, turning on the vacuum cleaner, opening the cage when he's sleeping, squeaking toys, etc. do not get his attention. At first, if I picked him up in a hurry, he'd turn to nip. Now he's used to being picked up. The only time he nips now is in play. He has very sharp teeth, and they scrap the skin. He does not puncture the skin anymore.

As I said, he is a panda. He's a silver blaze panda. And both Ashbury and Pooh are built different than the others. He's not as long, he's stockier, has a shorter tail, and sharper teeth. And when he runs, he reminds me of a bunny, especially when he's carrying around a stuffed toy. And he loves the stuffed toys. I often find one in the drawer where he's sleeping. Tonight I let him take one to bed with him.

While still at Sandi's, he stole a piece of chicken off her plate and ate it. He also had helped himself to a slice of pepperoni, and ate it. He hasn't done that over here. But I do give him raisins, which he loves. He has a temper too. Only one I've seen that got real upset when I refused to give him all the raisins that he wanted. He did try to nip then. He gets hyper when he gets more than two of them. So I try to limit them. Just too much sugar.

Ashbury loves everyone, and loves to play with people. You just need to use a piece of material or something in order to keep your hands away from his teeth. It's not easy to teach a playful kit (which he acts like) not to bite when he can't hear you yell "ouch". We're working at it, and it's a big step just letting all ten of them out at the same time. It gives everyone more roam time, and I can clean all the cages at the same time.

It's been a great day. They all get out at the same time and Suzy came back home today.