Longevity:
1.9 years
Masked
Dumbo
He was a nice rattie boy, who never wanted to fight or defend himself. I thought I had finally found a good pairing just having him live his life with one friend instead of in a colony setting. I'm sure Nesty didn't mean to cause him harm. May he rest in peace.
Update: 11/18/09 When I got done using Bandy for breeding a while back I moved him back into the big boys cage (largest ferret cage that Martin Cages makes) and everything has been fine for several months. But last night as I laid in bed I could hear someone getting into it downstairs in the basement where the big cages are.
When you've been breeding as long as I have you learn that ratties make different noises and cries. There is a special sound they make when being attacked. It's like a scream of distress. It's the most horrifying sound in the world and not one a Mother wants to hear from her children.
I got up, got dressed and went downstairs to investigate. At first I didn't see anything wrong as everyone came running to the cage door to see me. But then I noticed a big gash on Bandy's right hind leg. I opened up the cage door and said to him, "Come on Bandy let's go," and he climbed right out on my arm so I could cuddle him.
I looked at the other boys in the cage to see if I found other injuries so I might know who had done this to him, but saw nothing, no marks on anyone but him.
This morning I'm examining him and putting Neosporin Plus Pain on his wounds and I do mean wounds, (as in more than one). He had bite marks all over this underside, legs, front and back, belly. It looked like someone had relentlessly been picking on him and nipping for a while. Some of the bite marks you could tell were several days old. So now I've got another bully in the colony and the fun begins to find out who's testosterone levels are wreaking havoc in the colony...sigh.
It's obvious to me that poor Bandy is a "lover" not a fighter as he doesn't even attempt to defend himself, poor guy. It totally amazes me how the male ratties can seem to get along with each other for months and then one of them starts acting like a jerk and I get to play sleuth figuring out who's committing the crimes.
Update: 08/04/09 Bandy has made a full recovery! Months of healing and he's getting around just fine. I'm so happy he has healed from his early mishap!
Update: 06/09/09 Bandy is partially paralyzed on both back legs. His toes on both legs are not working properly and he uses the top of his feet to scoot around. He doesn't seem to be in any pain and the lack of movement in his toes don't seem to bother or hinder him. I'm still hopeful he'll make a full recovery though because earlier he couldn't move or use either leg.
The swelling is slowly going down. The bite he got in the area he got it surprises me it would effect both legs in this manner. The wound itself has completely healed and he is growing into a big rattie guy. Even if he won't be able to walk much he is still a sweet guy and as long as he's not in any pain I will try to provide him with a quality life.
Bandy's injury happened the same time as Jewels did. Many of the boys were injured and all of them have been removed from the cage. It appears that Misty's Legacy is the male that has been picking on the new younger boys. I will be removing him from the colony and he'll live the remainder of his life as a solitary male. Sometimes after you use a male for breeding their temperament changes and they become aggressive. I think that is what has happened here. I won't tolerate bullying, but sometimes it's hard to figure out who is doing what when you have a cage as large as the one they are in and have places to hide and many different ratties living there.
As of 05/23/09 I put Bandy in the big boys cage and one of them bit him in the foot so now he's back out of the cage in a healing unit with a swollen foot. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, or precautions I take to make the main boys cage "non" territorial someone still picks on the new comers despite all my efforts. I've removed the aggressive "Bouncer" out of the boys cage but someone else has claimed his "alpha" position it appears.