Archives for wheels (also look under sling for the standard ferret
modification of the sling devised first by folks at at
http://www.doggon.com a long time ago):
[Moderator's note: Note that http://www.doggonwheels.com mentioned in
the previous post is a different site also dealing with this!  BIG]
 
The FML (Ferret Mailing List) Archives are
http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html
and the FHL (Ferret Health List) Archives are
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/
and BOTH are very easily searched, having extremely friendly designs.
You'll find multiple options.  One pointer: if you go for Doggon wheels
some ferrets also need the front support attachment due to their long
backs, as we learned through experience.  There is someone here who makes
what seems to me to be one of the best for ferrets, and I wish we'd known
about then for Meeteetse but they were designed later.  The people remove
the bottom and at least one end from a domed rodent cage, attach casters
to the cage, and hang slings for the ferret.  I have heard of other
designs that people praise highly, too.
 
The slings are easy to make and they last (having one for a number of
years here): chose the panty hose size according to the person's height
to avoid back strain.  If people in the household are greatly varying
heights then use different color pantyhose to identify whose is whose.
Place the feet over each other and sew them together into a hammock for
the ferret to rest in.  Roll the top and sew that together to make a
handle.  Place ferret's middle in the hammock part of the the sling, hold
handle to provide some lift and off you go!  It's a logical thing so may
have been come up with multiple times through the years.
 
Try putting a large (laundry size) tubular basket on it's side in a room
with the ferrets unless you have a basket chewer.  They now only play in
those but they dislodge some (not all) of their own loose fur that way.
We finish up with a flea comb usually because it is very effective.
 
Not all fur balls are from fur, and we are NOT the only folks here to
have learned that when a fur ball was taken apart.  We have had one which
was mostly fake fleece and fake fur.  That ferret liked to eat in bed.
I've since been covering the fake fleece and fake fur in their beds, one
bed at a time, and have a number done so far.  Here's what I found after
doing it: the beds with the fake fleece and fur covered are vastly easier
to launder, they don't leave a lot of stuff to clean up in washing
machine and driers, they last longer because they can't be dug down to
the webbed substrate, they stay very soft because the fleece and fake
fur act as padding under the material.  If you have a bed-snacker cover
materials that shed for safety's sake!  BTW, the types of polar fleece
material that I have found in the MF toys don't shed or have done so
minimally, but some of the fake sheep fleece or fake fur come off easily
in the hand with tiny tugs, scratch loose when ferrets dig their beds, or
leave a lot of fiber in washers and driers.  Those are the ones that I am
covering, bed by bed...
 
>I joined the FML in early September of this year.  At that time there
>were well over 3,000 members.  Looking at the current circulation count,
>there is quite a difference.  Is this a normal trend?
 
We found a decrease after moving the FHL, but I don't think that it was
all the move, having heard of this elsewhere, too, and having talked with
some of the people.  Talking with some folks: there are more who can't
afford at-home connections right now during the economic down-turn (which
hopefully is going to turn around soon since we sure are caught in it,
too) and I have been told that more companies are cracking down on people
who use their work computers for non-work things.  It could just be as
Bill suggests: that with more sites out there there are people who are
going for smaller sites (That makes complete sense to me.), or any number
of these factors may be playing in, or there may be something else.
Anyway, those are two more guesses that result in fewer people on-line in
general for their personal use (which affect some people -- but how many
they affect is completely unknown) to throw around.
 
[Moderator's note: The only mature lists I know of which have shown a
substantial growth of subscribers lately have been lists like jokes and
[Posted in FML issue 3983]