Hi FFFs! (Fellow ferret fans)
 
This week was the week for big changes, but fun ones.  First, I ordered a
new cage for my three.  I decided on a Ferretrail Kingdom by SuperPet.  It's
coated wire and sturdy and is 39"W by 19"D by 32"H.  It sits up on a stand
(total height of cage and stand is 52") so it's off the floor which is a
bonus in my house, since the floors are really cold in the winter, and
drafty.  The cage has more usable space in my situation since it's larger
horizontally.  The previous cage was a three level but had a very small
footprint.  By necessity, I had to have a litter box on the lowest level,
because Brownie wouldn't go up to the top to use the other box, like Tallie
and Wicket would.  So that decreased the space even more.  They only slept
on the bottom, right smack next to the litter box, or on the second level in
the hammock.  The top was only used because there was a litter box up there.
They never would sleep up there.  If I put bedding up there, they'd just
drag it down to the bottom.  So with the new cage, they have lots more space
in their sleeping area and still have three shelves and two ramps to climb
up and down.  AND there's space for two hammocks.  It also came with three
of those clear colored plastic tubes that snap together, but having them in
the cage made it very crowded.  So they are on the floor where they can play
in them when they're out.
 
The other change which just occurred was the removal of my sleep sofa and
its replacement with a futon.  The sofa was a big problem since they used to
climb in from the bottom and scratch all the stuffin' out of it.  After I
wired the bottom closed with galvanized mesh they started clawing their way
in past the cushions, making them all fuzzy in places.  Eventually they
would have ruined it.  So I sold it six weeks ago and it finally left today
(lady had me keep it for her until today when she moved into her new house).
The futon is now in it's place and the fuzzies are quite confused as to why
they can't get inside of it. :)  But they can still run underneath it (even
easier now) and hide the remote, their stuffed toy mouse, my slippers,
paperbacks.... however, I can also more easily retrieve these items.
 
Any of you who have sleep sofas and haven't devised a ferret proof way to
keep them out, consider a futon on a frame.  They are just as functional as
a sleeper, and are safer.  Plus if the cover ever wears out, you can just
zip it off and get a new one.
 
Karen
Wicket (Cool tubes!  Look, if I bend myself in half I can do a U-turn
inside them!)
Tallie (Hey!  Where's the entrance to this thing!)
Brownie (Pick me up, I want a raisin.)
 
Karen
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Today the wind had a milder range,
And seems to hint of a secret change,
For the gossipy breezes bring to me
The delicate odor of buds to be,
In the gardens and groves of spring.
                                -- William Hamilton Hayne
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[Posted in FML issue 1959]