I'll do as much of this before I leave to go to the west coast.  I have
tons of questions to get through and little time to to it, as well as a
server that is not cooperating.
 
Q: "With all your ferrets, litter boxes must be quite the chore. What do
    you do...?"
 
A: Paint the corners black and pretend not to notice. "So, how do you like
my new, textured paint?"
 
Little is said about the staying power of litter boxes, and lots of people
love lots of different designs.  I personally use 6 inch tall, heavy-duty
bussing trays made of thick gray plastic.  These will carry quite a load
without breaking down on you.  If a ferret is too weak to climb into the
tray, I use one where one side has been cut down to 3.5 inches (a cutting
blade on a soldering gun works great.)
 
The trays cost about $10 for three (at Sam's Club) and I recycle them for
gardening or junk work each six months to help control viral or bacterial
problems.  Once a week I clean them with soap and bleach, followed by an
antibacterial soaking, then a week in the sun for outgassing and UV
sterilization.  If I have coccidia in the group, I start treatment for all,
then I toss the trays (and food and water dishes) and start new, which I
have found to be the only really effective way to stop it in its tracks.
 
I have to point out that you can use several toxic chemicals to sterilize
the trays and dishes, or you can heat them to the boiling point for 30
minutes which will do the same thing (Some people prefer dry heat, and 300
F for 10-15 minutes should do it if the dish or tray can stand it).  I
never recommend the chemical treatment because few people have the ability
to dispose of the discarded chemicals properly, and they can kill the
bacteria in septic tanksand water-treatment plants (besides poisoning the
environment).  I personally boil my food dishes once a week; they are
ceramic and are not bothered by the heat.  My water dish is softened, but
not damaged if handled carefully, and the water-containing portion is a
recycled soda bottle which is recycled weekly.  This might be a bit
paranoid to some of you, but having suffered through 18 sick ferrets (and
one death) ultimately caused by a contaminated food dish, I have learned
my lesson, and these steps have eliminated all problems.
 
One last thing.  I use glass dishes to feed my ferrets.  The problem with
ceramics is some glazes and clays contain large amounts of lead that can
be hazardous to the health of your ferret, and since pet dishes are not
covered by the same regulations as human food containers, you will never
know without testing them yourself.  If used with dry kibbles, they are
probably not much of a danger, but boiling them can leach out the lead
(especially from cracked glazes) and become a danger.  I have found heavy
pyrex and corningware dishes to be just as effective in holding food as the
often more-expensive pet dish, and completely safe for food storage and
cleaning.  One thing I love about corningware food dishes is they have
comparatively lower side walls than pet dishes of the same size, which
makes eating easier for the sick ferts in the house.  My favorite dish is
a large white casserole dish with side walls about 2 inches tall.  It is
oblong, which allows a lot of ferrets to feed at once, and its weight and
size makes tipping difficult.  I bought two at a Salvation Army store for
$0.50 each.  Each day I run the "dirty" one through the dishwasher to
sanitize it, and once a week do the boiling water trick to completely
sterilize it.
 
FYI, you can buy home-testing kits to test your personal and pet dishes
for dangerous levels of lead.  I can't remember the brand names or costs
because I've never used one and I would rather spend my money on Metalica
and Motley Crue CDs.  The most serious danger seems to be locally made
hand-made glazed dishes, or cheap pet dishes from over-seas.  Perhaps
someone more knowledgable on lead in ceramics can comment on the problem.
 
Bob C and 22 MO Corning Sharks
[Posted in FML issue 2416]