>From:   [log in to unmask] (James Garriss x5766 x5631)
>
>I am planning to get my first ferret within a month or so, and I'm
>beginning to think some about ferret-proofing my apartment.  My
>wife and I plan to let the ferret have the downstairs (kitchen,
>dining room, and living room) to play in and our half-bath to
>sleep in.
 
First of all, if he'll be around the appliances try to make sure he can't
get behind/underneath them. You don't want him getting into the wiring (for
*his* sake I mean). My two are confined to the kitchen, and the only problem
spot with the appliances was the opening behind the fridge. I attached a
narrow piece of wood to the back of the fridge to block that off.
 
>1) What about my aquariums?  I have two that are within reach of
>   a ferret.  Anyone out there with experience?  Will the ferrets
>   try to get to the fish?  There are lids on both, but they only
>   cover 75% of the aquarium and the lids don't seem like they
>   would be that difficult to lift.  Do the ferrets dislike
>   water enough to leave them alone?
 
Based on the following experience, I'd say no, ferrets won't necessarily
avoid water even if they dislike it. I was on vacation and set up the
ferrets in the bathroom. I figured if they happened to have any 'accidents'
in my hotel room, the tile floor of the bathroom would be easiest to clean.
Their cage was set up under the sink beside the toilet. I stepped out of the
room for a moment, not thinking to close the toilet lid, and shortly heard
a 'splash'. I came back to find Cassie madly thrashing in the toilet. I guess
she crawled on their cage to check it out and fell in (reminds me of the time
I came home to find her trapped in the garbage can. Sigh :).
 
>2) What about wires?  Lamp wires, TV wires, CD player wires,
>   Nintendo wires, VCR wires -- they're all highly available.
>   Do ferrets chew wires like rabbits do?  Some of these could
>   really hurt them if they did it right.
 
Mine at least do indeed chew wires when given the chance. This is hard on
the wires of course, but could be harder on the ferret if it happens to be
a power cable. Fortunately there are no accessible wires in my kitchen, and
when I've had them in other rooms I've found that spraying accessible wires
with bitter apple discourages chewing quite nicely. I'd still try to keep
any wires out of their reach if at all possible.
 
>3) What about kitchen cabinets?  Not the ones above the counter,
>   the ones down by your ankles are what I'm asking about.  Can
>   ferrets learn to open cabinets and play in the pots and pans
>   (and for us - cleaning supplies)?
 
Again, based on experience they can indeed learn to open cabinets. I put
child safety latches on all my floor level kitchen cabinets, so they don't
open far enough for the fuzzies to squeeze in.
 
     One other thing you should think about. I've read of a ferret pulling
a heat grate out, crawling into the duct work, falling into the furnace and
dying. That's why *all* my heat grates are screwed to the floor, even in the
rooms I only bring them in occasionally. As for giving him the run of your
whole basement, that's great if you handle all the 'trouble spots'. I wish
I could have left mine with the run of my place, but I've had to restrict
them from more and more areas where they'd get into trouble that I couldn't
prevent short of keeping them out entirely. Oh well, they still get visiting
privileges (supervised, of course) to these areas occasionally.
 
John, Buddy, and Cassidy
 
[Posted in FML issue 0603]