>Debbi Searing <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I'm really curious how all the people out there with 6, 10, 15, even 30
>ferrets manage????  Are you always cleaning poop?  How do you tell which
>one is sick when you find diarrhea?  How do you keep them all happy and
>give them all individual attention?
 
Hi,
 
I have 7 (or 8, depending on how number 8 gets along with number 7)
ferrets.  6 share a very large (4'W X 2'D X about 5.5' high) cage with 4
FULL levels and 2 (soon to be 3) large litter pans.  The litter pans are
1' X 2' each and made of a heavy enough metal that the ferrets can't move
them.  I only have to clean the boxes once per day, so no, I'm not always
cleaning poop.
 
The others are each in their own small, but nice cages with similar litter
pans (downsized for the single cages - 1.5' X 2'.  Same deal with the
cleaning.
 
As for who is sick, I haven't had any who are sick by only having diarrhea.
If one of mine is sick, there is almost always more than one symptom and I
can tell by observing them.  Someone will want to sleep more than usual, or
will sneeze more, or whatever.
 
It's easy to keep them happy (isn't that the definition of a ferret??).....
They get out of the cage daily and play together and with all the animal
toys as well as whatever my 5 year old human child brings into the ferret
foom, so there's always something new to explore.
 
When they aren't dancing and playing with each other, they come and ask
for attention.  It's easy to stop whatever I'm doing and go play for a
few minutes.  Then they get distracted by the others and move on....
 
I've never had a problem with any of the above!!
 
Kim
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[Posted in FML issue 3047]