I kept my first ferret in a mesh-sided playpen with a weighted
fold-back cover on top.  She had a blanket, sleep-basket, litter
pan, and food dish in there and I hung a water bottle also.
   When I first put her in there she had a massive temper tantrum!!
She ran round and round, climbed up the sides like a monkey, bit
the mesh, hissed and snarled and spat!!!
   I waited till she'd finished her tantrum and was lying all sad
and flat and then I comforted her.
   Then one day later on, I couldn't find her. I was worried that
perhaps she'd gotten outside--and then I noticed a bumpy blanket
in the playpen.  She had crawled in there on her own to sleep!
   Two cautions--be *sure* their nails are clipped!!! or they
could dangle and get caught. And don't go too far away, as once
when I wasn't home Shasta fell down on her water dish and got
bruised and scratched--and I didn't know until my once-friendly
vet greeted me *very* coldly and told me that animal abuse was
a terrible thing and no one should ever beat up a ferret.
   I didn't know what he was talking about until he showed me the
marks--which were exactly the size and shape of the rim of her food
dish.  She'd been climbing the walls and fallen on it and I felt so
rotten.
   It worked for her for five years.  However, when I got Emmett he
was so sturdy and big that I didn't think the mesh would be a good
idea for him so I got him a collapsible cat playpen instead.
 
Kate Pappas and Emmett Kelly   [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1218]