Hi,
 
I saw some posts about our Ferret Disney Land in MF!  We really enjoy it
and it is open to ferrety friends who may pass through at the cost of one
Cheweasel per visitor.  I would say free, but the ferts are insisting on
charging! :-)
 
Really though, I saw a post asking what people do as far a roaming around.
We chose to let our guys go free in the room.  I have thought on this and
still question my decision from time to time, but we allow them to sleep in
sleepy boxes with clothes in them that are strewn all over the room.  We
have cages for them, but I hate putting them in the cages unless they are
sick and need to be in our room for observation.
 
I have thought the whole fire thing through and decided that since they
have a door in their room that goes directly outside, that I could let them
roam.  I reasoned (God, I hope I never have to test this theory) that I
could squeaky ball them out of the room from the outside in case of a fire.
The only problem is, because of the door and windows, I have to put them
in a cage and relocate them to a different part of the house during
hurricanes.
 
I also let them roam outside the room during the day.  Their room is just
their "night cage" in a sense.  When we built our house, we built it with
them in mind.  We bought all furniture with skinny legs that is high off
the floor, put in half doors to no-no rooms, etc.  They've found 3 places
in the house to hide during the day because we really don't have that many
closed off, dark spaces for them other than in their room.
 
I guess it's all up to you.  What makes you feel comfortable?  If you like
knowing they are in a cage during the day while they are sleeping anyway,
then let that be the way you do it.  If you want them to be able to jump
and run around, if they wake during the day, then let them roam the room.
Our guys sleep ALL day and only get up to eat a bite or two and use the
potty.  They only fully wake up and come look for us during the scheduled
play times that we've gotten them used to.  (Twice a day when we put down
what we're doing and do blankie runs, eggs in the shower and furious ferret
drying, etc.)
 
The only other concern is narrowing down sicknesses.  If I find a weird
poopie or something, it's a little harder to narrow down the suspects.  I
have developed an eye for who does what poopies normally and try to deduce
through what I DON'T find when I find a weird poopie, but it's still a
challenge.  If you find puke or something, you just don't know who did it.
I guess that's the same in a cage unless everyone has a fav hammock and you
find the puke in a hammock and ferret has moved.  Our guys go from box to
box depending on what suits them for that day.
 
I really hope that helps.  It felt like rambling. :-)  E-mail me if you
have questions.
 
April and the LOVES ferrets
Luna
Orion
Venus
Eros
Sola
[Posted in FML issue 2997]