>From:    Kimberly Whitaker <[log in to unmask]>
>ago and I was told that if a fuzzie has a strip down the middle of his
>head then is is probably deaf.  Is this true and how do I find out for
>sure if my baby Salem is deaf?
 
It's not necessarily true.  A few weeks ago I went into the pet store and
looked at the baby ferrets (beautiful ones, BTW.  Thick soft longish fluffy
coats, and not a nipper in the bunch).  They were all asleep and I noticed
one of them was a blaze.  I leaned over the group and began dooking at
them.  Every single head popped up and they began looking around
frantically for the "ferret" that was talking to them.  That blaze was
certainly not deaf.  Try making a noise (clap your hands, blow a whistle)
when your ferret isn't paying attention to you and see if he turns his
head.  I have a deaf ferret and I don't really treat him any different than
the rest.  If he's doing something he shouldn't, obviously I can't distract
him with noise, I have to physically remove him from whatever it is.  But
other than that, you can't really tell there's any difference between him
and the rest.
 
>From:    Beth Comarow <[log in to unmask]>
>My response: To care for a ferret well (key word) takes work.  Many people
>who buy ferrets think of them as pocket pets who live in a cage.
 
This just means that people are uneducated as to their care.  It doesn't
mean the care is difficult.  It takes *time*, yes, same as with any pet.
This isn't the same as the animal being difficult to care for.
 
>pets.  I've had cats and a dog, and aside from the initial time spent
>working with and training my dog, hour for hour, ferrets take more time.
>I don't mind it - I love them.  But I don't believe they are pets for
>everyone.  After several years trying to help people with medical and
>behavioral questions on a ferret board, I grow more convinced each year
>that they are special animals who need the right match with special people
>willing to care for them in a special way.
 
I think possibly the problem with defining whether ferrets are hard to care
for is that "ferret people" see ferrets as being more special than other
animals, for the most part.  They get babied, spoiled, pampered, worried,
and fussed over.  It makes it seem like they are hard to care for.  They
really aren't.  I ferret-proofed a long time ago - I don't have to do it
constantly.  I clean litter boxes once/day - no big deal.  They eat out of
a bowl and drink out of water bottles in the cage - easy.  Everyone has to
do laundry often anyway, especially if they have children.  If I had a dog,
I'd have to train it, walk it, play with it, feed it, water it, clean up
after it, take it to the vet, etc etc.  What's the difference?
 
I think it *can* get overwhelming if you have MANY ferrets.  Then you have
*more* litterboxes, and *more* water bottles, and *more* laundry.  But the
same could be said for anyone who has a lot any kind of pet - more of a
particular type of animal means more basic work.  It doesn't mean that the
actual work involved is "difficult" or that the animal is more "special"
than any other animal.
 
Get on a bird list or snake list or rodent list or dog list or..... and
you'll find out that these animals too are considered "special animals" who
need the right match with "special people" to care for them in a "special
way".
 
>From:    Percy Pwood Georgia Wood <[log in to unmask]>
>pellets.  Zillions of us use basic wood stove pellets (at $2.97 per 40# at
>Home Depot stores) and the breakdown is just how they are.  When you scoop,
>include the little spot of wet sawdust.  Actually we are happy to know
>where to scoop!
 
And I find that the sawdust dries fairly quickly, controlling odor nicely.
When I clean boxes, I have an empty box available.  I sift the poop and
sawdust into a waste container and put the whole pellets into the empty
box.  Then add more clean pellets to make up the difference and voila!
Clean litter.
 
>From:    Steve and Becky McMall <[log in to unmask]>
>Does anyone know if this site is associated with the pet supply company,
>Pet Warehouse?
 
They are different.  Pets Warehouse is probably quite happy to get the
customers who type in the URL incorrectly, and vice versa. :)
 
Karen
[log in to unmask]
==========================================================================
"The snake is an animal. It has a backbone and heart. It has red blood and
drinks water and eats food. It breathes air and feels fear, just like every
other animal in the world. And it's in a body that is the hardest thing for
the average person to understand."
                -- Dave Barker, herpetologist
==========================================================================
If you love ferrets, check out:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crassi/index.html
==========================================================================
[Posted in FML issue 2858]