To whoever asked whether a rabies vaccine was necessary -
You'll probably get several other posts saying what I'm about to say, but
I had to put in my 2 cents' worth anyway.
 
With indoor ferrets that have almost no chance at all of getting rabies, the
vaccine is still a good idea in order to protect the fuzzies from
overreactive people.  If your ferret bites someone, and they get very huffy
and angry about it, you can at least show them proof of yuor fuzzy's rabies
vaccination, and hopefully they'll drop the subject.
 
If I understand right, a dog or cat that bites someone is given a quarantine
period to make sure it doesn't have rabies.  With ferrets, there are no such
automatic quarantines; if the person who was bitten makes a complaint, your
ferret can legally be taken away and examined for rabies.  Since this is
done by examining brain tissue, THE FERRET IS KILLED.
 
Showing the bitten person proof of vaccination may get them to calm
down and not complain.
 
I read somewhere that there have onlly been about 17 documented cases of
rabies in ferrets, most of which were caused by the vet giving the wrong
vaccine.  (Please, someone tell me if my numbers are wrong!) Which brings up
another point: make sure the vet uses KILLED TISSUE vaccine.  There's more
information on this in the FAQ.
 
Seth and Emma go with me many places, but I wouldn't even think of taking
them around other people if their rabies vacs weren't up to date.  Again,
it's more to protect your fuzzies from people than people from fuzzies.
 
<steps off soapbox>
 
And as for rolling over and other tricks -
Seth and Emma both know their names and will (usually) come when I call.
When i'm eating something they want, they'll both sit up and beg.  I just
started trying to teach them to roll over, using the process described by
Dr.  Wendy Winstead in one of her ferret books (_Ferrets in Your Home_, I
think).
 
Winstead would say, "Roll over," and roll the ferret over with her hands.
Immediately she would praise the fuzzy and give him a treat (she used laps
of milk - more on this below).  She repeated this several times.  Then after
a while, she would only roll the ferret over 3/4ths of the way, and if he
finished the rollover on his own, he got the treat.  After a while of that,
she pushed him over halfway, then a quarter of the way, then touching his
shoulder, then finally just moving her hand toward him (saying "Roll over"
each time, of course).
 
The reason she used milk was because it takes only a couple of seconds for a
ferret to lap a bit of milk (or other liquid - too much milk's not good for
the fuzzies), whereas a solid treat like raisins or etc.  would take a while
to eat.  In this way, she was able to fit more repetitions into each 15
minute training session.
 
I'm not trying to advertise here, but I have to say that I did like _Ferrets
in Your Home_ a lot.  Winstead generally seems to know what she's talking
about, and has had years of experience with ferrets.
 
Gee - big post!  Well, I hope it had something useful in it...
 
-joyce (I hope I wasn't babbling.)
-Seth, World Traveler Extraordinaire (i really did want to bite that
   guy but i didnt    shouldnt i get a treat for that)
-Emma (that vet sticks needles in me   i will continue to try and bite
   him every chance i get)
[Posted in FML issue 1448]