Robert C. Chady <[log in to unmask]> asked:
> Just wondering, do all baby ferrets eat and sleep so much?  And are
> they always this thirsty?  I mean, this little stinker is really
> going to town for someone his size!
 
I don't know about thirst, but when Rusty was a baby he ate a lump of
food the size of his head every day -- and another the same size every
night!  (We came home from the breeder with a glob of the soft mixture
he had been eating.)  He was on kitten food by the time we moved him
in with Pixxel, a week later, and for his first six months he seemed
to spend half his waking hours eating.
 
Kevin Woodyard <[log in to unmask]> asked:
> Question #1: How do you discern playful from angry. When I get a towel out
> and kind of wiggle it in front of him he turns sideways and hops around
> while making a hissing sound with his mouth open.
 
Congratulations, you have witnessed the Weasel Wardance (aka Ferret
Foxtrot, aka Dance of Joy).  That's playful.  "The ferret formerly
known as Casper" :) may still nip you, but it's in play, not spite,
and you can teach him not to.  I've been trying to think of how to
tell playful from angry, but I can't put my finger on anything.
Playful's usually a lot more common, though.
 
> Question #3: Does a ferret acknowledge a name, I mean is it ok to
> change it's name without causing a personality conflict?
 
It should be okay.  If he answers to Casper right now, you can get him
used to the new name by stringing the two together for a while, much
like the recommended way to switch a ferret's food.
 
> Question#4: I have a small 1 x 2 x 1 foot cage I use as my time out
> cage. [...] will his willingness to go in there unaided affect my
> discipline measures in using this cage? When I put him in there for
> doing something wrong he hates it, but still lays down and goes to
> sleep.
 
It should still be a fine timeout cage.  Ferrets are good at falling
asleep when there's nothing better to do, but it doesn't mean they
wouldn't rather be out.  I bet he wakes right up when you open the
cage to let him out again.
 
- Pam Greene  <[log in to unmask]>
Ferret Central - <http://www.ceas.rochester.edu:8080/ee/users/rhode/index.html>
Ferret FAQ - GET ANSWERS PACKAGE FERRET in mail to <[log in to unmask]>
[Posted in FML issue 1119]