But there's hope.  I went into Debby's Petland again today (where I got
poor Merlin, who couldn't dig the food out of the bowl and was stuck in a
small glass cage with the babies) and had deja vu!  There was a Merlin
look-alike, 3 months old, in with some 6-8 week old babies, and that same
old chewed up cardboard tube, maybe 2 inches in diameter.  So the big guy
can't fit in there, but he keeps trying.  Then I noticed the babies licking
desperately at the water bottle and sure enough, no water.  As a matter of
fact, NONE of the animals (barring the turtles) had any water.  I learned
the manager was out with hip surgery, so that's probably why the downhill
slide....but I offered to buy some 4 inch diameter PVC tubing for the
ferrets to play in, and the girl "in charge" told me a guy came in last
week to buy a ferret and told them he'd heard from a shelter around here
that PVC contains chemicals that kill ferrets.  Hm, I thought PVC was
plumbing tubing, like used for our very own drinking water?  Then she got
really argumentative, saying the local ferret-expert vet is really rude so
nobody goes there...and I told her who cares if he's rude as long as he
knows what he's doing!  (by the way, he is a very sweet guy who is friends
with her manager, something she was NOT aware of!)
 
So my point (yes, I'm getting there!) is that I'm going to contact the
regional manager AGAIN to clear up this PVC and cardboard tubing problem.
The girl who told me all this (and who is in charge when the managers
aren't around, and who sells ferrets to people) had never even heard of ECE
and put the lizard's heating lamp on top of the ferret cage "because, well,
the lizards are gone and the ferret cage is right next to it, so it seemed
like a good spot." *sigh*
 
I would like to know about this PVC stuff before I contact the manager, and
also, if anyone knows of specific references in ferret books or literature
as to cardboard NOT being good for ferrets, I need that too.  This girl
says the cardboard goes right through the ferrets' systems, "just like when
all the other rodents eat it." *big sigh* (Let's hear it for hiring bad
help!!!) Can anyone point me to some good references?
 
debbi and the m&m ferrets (molly and merlin)
[Posted in FML issue 3003]