I've said before, and I'll say again, the 'SuperPet Fun-nel Homes' are the
best choice cage for anyone with a ferret that isn't tiny.  (And I make
that last concession only because I've heard of some escape artists getting
out of 'em).
 
The tubes that are a part of the cage are a blast... my business chases
each other through them, even sleeps in them sometimes.  They have fun,
and I have fun watching them.
 
They get three dewclaws and a thumb up!
 
As for names...
 
Looks like I'm the biggest literature nerd on the list.  My first ferret,
Ebisneezer Scrooge got his name because he sneezed constantly at the pet
store, and he was sort of a Christmas present for me.  You can see the
full story at
<http://www.coyotesdaughter.com/~azrael/pages/ebisneezer.html>.
 
For several months, he was an only ferret.  Then a man in Brooklyn rescued
three ferrets from neglect and abuse, and I ended up with two of them.  He
didn't know what the abusive family had named them, so I stuck with my
Dickens theme, and named the big gib David Copperferret, and the little
girl became Cinderferret because I couldn't think of any way to make the
only female character I could think of in Dickens, Belle, into a ferret-ie
name.  (Later I thought of 'La Belle Furret Sans Merci', but it was too
late... the little girl was Cinder).
 
In use, of course, they don't have the full names tacked on to them all
the time.  They're The Sneeze, Copper, and Cinder.
 
Speaking (or writing, as the case may be) of sneezing, the person who was
worried about it, shouldn't be.  Ferrets sneeze.  They're dusty critters.
If it was just the one episode in the morning, it was probably just
something in the air.  If it goes on for a couple of days, it's just a
cold.  If it goes on for longer, it's probably alergies.
 
It turned out that theSneeze was alergic to the wood bedding the petstore
was using.  Away from it, he doesn't (much) sneeze.  But even if it had
been something more common that he was alergic to, I'm sure my vet could've
given me fuzzy benidryl or something.
 
Oh, and about Ferrets in NYC.  They're against the health code.  There was
an article in last sunday's Post about it, and about the efforts of some
ferret owners here to change that.  Basicly the issue is proving that
they're not wild and vicious animals.
 
I don't have contact info for the folks the article cited; a friend of mine
is trying to contact them.  If you have questions about ferrets, and you
live in NYC, please feel free to contact me.  I'll be happy to share what I
know, or don't know.
 
*=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=*
I'm paying the price of loneliness on the installment plan.
 
    --Ben Dominitz
*-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-*
 Regan S. Pylman                                 [log in to unmask]
             http://www.coyotesdaughter.com/~azrael
[Posted in FML issue 2647]