Hi Everyone,
 
I have a little mystery going on at home.  I am owned by 3 ferrets, one is
free roam, the others are one male, Rupert, 2 y/o, and one female Fiona, 6-7
y/o that reside in the same cage when I am at work.  When I got home from
work yesterday Rupert was laying on the bottom of the cage (immediate heart
attack) (it is a two story cage with food/water/litter boxes on the ground
floor and hammies, blankets, beds etc.  on the top floor)with closer
examination of the cage Rupert had dug/drug a blanket down through the exit
hole, down the ramp to the ground floor which blocked the exit hole.  He had
completely destroyed the ground floor of the cage.  Litter everywhere, fuzz
that came off the blanket from his digging, in his water just everywhere.  I
don't mind the mess, what concerns me is, he was freezing (my house has no
forced heating only a wood stove which we haven't cranked up yet)Fiona his
cage mate was stuck on the upper floor and she has insulinoma and it is
crucial that she have access to food and of course water.  It just so
happened that she was fine and I felt so bad for Rupert he looked so pitiful
laying on the floor in the corner with no blanket or anything to wrap
himself in.  Anyway I made sure everyone was fine and cleaned the cage.  Now
this morning same regime put Rupert & Fiona in the cage before I left I
checked to make sure Rupert wasn't pulling the blanket through the exit hole
and I found him laying in the same place in the corner on the ground floor
with no blanket, just curled up in a ball.  I have never seen this type of
behavior from him.  I have had Rupert one year last month.  Could it be that
he and Fiona are not getting along?  They seemed to be fine after I let them
out yesterday I did not notice anything different about them.  I spent alot
of time with them yesterday because I was concerned about their incident and
it was also my day to make duck soup so I always get alot of help <grin> So
this morning since he was on the ground floor and curled up in a ball with
no blanket I left the cage door open so Rupert can go somewhere else to
sleep that is comfortable.  I am at a loss on what is going on, does anyone
have any ideas?  Has anyone had a similar experience and figured out what
the problem was?  Thanks for any help whatsoever you could give me.  I don't
really want him to be a free roam fert when I am at work I worry what might
happen.  Thanks for listening.  Sorry for the length of the post.
 
Jill Owned By
Rupert, Fiona & EB
 
PS  I also feel BIG should get extra special organically grown raisins
[Posted in FML issue 2089]