Dooks to all...
how DID hammocks start????  What a great question.  Well, once upon a time
there was this human who had a real hammock and his ferret liked to sleep
there so he made him his very own mini-hammock but his nails got stuck in
the webbing so he added fleece.....I don't know.....anyhow, I do know that
my rat Harry loves his hammock too, and lots of bird owners have started
using them too!  Can't wait to hear other theories....
 
Penny if Taz is vomiting the very first thing that comes to my mind and
I'm sure you'll hear this from others too...is that he may have a bowel
obstruction...take him to your vet pronto.  Sometimes that is the only
symptom...the little guys literally cannot FIT any more food in their
bellies.  It's important to get this checked quickly, as fluid is still
being produced in his stomach and can build up quickly.  You didn't say if
his stools were smaller or non-existent, sometimes this doesn't occur right
away though if it is a higher blockage, such as a piece of rubber stuck at
the opening out of the stomach to the small intestine.  Good luck finding
out what's going on and please keep us informed.  Vicky I have a cage like
yours, I love the extra space it gives them, but sometimes you have to take
up some of the space with things so they don't poop everywhere.  My guys
have two stories, no ramps as they climb the sides even when the ramps are
there.  The top floor has a corner box, a food bowl and bottle in the
opposite corner, and a hammock above.  The bottom floor has four corners
instead of two, so there is a bigger litter box, food & water in the other
corner, then sleep sacks and blankets hooked to the bars of the cage so
they can't move them out of those corners.  A tube runs above them at this
level to catch any fallers out of the top hammock just in case...(those
cages are so high!).  All 7 prefer to sleep together there, either piling
in the hammock or on the first floor sacks.  Hope this helps...just get
clamps at your hardware store so they can't rearrange things OUT of the
corners.
 
I have a pitbull and she is incredibly sweet with the ferrets, who beat the
living heck out of her.  It is so good to be able to socialize your dog
when it is young to be around many different kinds of animals, but I swear
due to her bred-in high pain tolerance she was the perfect choice as a
playmate for my gang.  They literally hang from her cheeks at times...it's
wierd to have to save the DOG from the evil little-ones!<G>.  But the
ferrets are incredibly good at reading other animals too...my older dog
Johhny does'nt really like them too much and he just gives this warning
grumble and they know! and leave him be.  Regardless, it is good to ALWAYS
supervise their interactions whenever they are out together as even the
best dog can be having a bad day, just like us.  Now does anyone have
advice on what to do about my cat?  Pawley is a big bully and lies in wait
for an innocent sleepy weazel to step out of his cage and then he grabs
them with all four paws and Oh my!!!  I've tried everything to get him to
stop, the ferrets don't mind but I worry about a bite even though I know
they have tough skin.  He has softpaws on his 22 toes....
 
Michele & the 7 not-so-innocent fuzzies
[Posted in FML issue 2783]