Hi Everyone, I'm a new subscriber to the FLM and a semi-new owner of
ferrets.  I had a sable ferret named Mazzy for 3 years and she passed away
in May.  The vet had had to perform surgery due to a hairball getting
intangled in her intestines and she wasn't strong enough to pull through.
I was devestated!  Well just 1 month ago I walked into a pet store and
there was a big glass box filled with the cute fuzzie faces.  They had no
litter in their litter box and there was a huge sign on the glass that said
"Do not touch...they bite"
 
Well I asked if I could pet a few and take them in the back room to play
with them.  They said that was fine so I took 2 who I ended up bringing
home with me.  I have a sable girl named Cassidy and a silver boy named
Monroe.  At the pet store Monroe bit a lot but it wasn't out of meaness.
It seemed to be because he was starved.  Since they have been at my house,
I'll still get the occasional nip but other than that they have been fine.
I want to learn all I can about the care of my ferrets but I can't seem to
find much literature that isn't very generalized.  I have two questions
that maybe someone could answer me about.  First of all I feed them a huge
handful of food in the mornings.  My ferrets are 3 months and few weeks
old.  They are getting so big!!!  But they always seemed starved.  I'm not
sure if it's because they are still little, or do I need to keep food in
their bowls at all times???  Also, I've been trying to littertrain them
room by room.  I have a baby gate which I keep up so I can watch them and
talk to them when I am out of the room but usually I'll be in their playing
with them.  I'm having a really hard time litter training them, like
sometimes they will in their litterbox that I have in my room but lately
they have just changed corners.  Anywhere the litterbox is they stay away
from.  Cassidy is a little ornry and she likes to scrape out most of the
litter I put in their litterbox cage so I'm not even sure I'm using the
right kind of litter.  They also will poop right outside of the litterbox.
They will back up and everything but not go in.  This is only on random
occasions and their litterbox is cleaned daily!  I'm not sure why this is
and if there is anything I can do about it.  I buy unscented kitty litter.
When I had Mazzy I had a hard time litter training her outside her cage but
in her cage was never a problem.  With these two it is.  Another example of
them in their cage was that they had to stay at my sisters for two nights
and I wasn't there.  They didn't go in their litterbox at all, but in the
opposite corner.  That was the worst I had seen it because usually they'll
atleast go right next to the litterbox.  If anyone has any answers for me
about food and litter training please e-mail or post back.  It's
frustrating because I'm not sure if it's something I'm doing or not doing!
Thank you so much for anything you all can do!
[Posted in FML issue 2851]