A few weeks ago I asked for a recommendation on ferret water bowls and
I got a number of helpful responses.  I had posted a follow-up to that
query shortly thereafter with a summary of those responses, as well as my
decision on the matter.  I had purchased two bowls which attach to the
cage so they can't spill 'em and they've been working well since then.
 
But Santa Claus bought the ferrets a new present for Christmas which is
even better than the water bowls and I just had to give a public
endorsement on the FML.  My ferrets now have a "Fresh Flow" automatic
purifying pet water fountain manufactured by Petmate.
 
At first I was concerned that they'd try to push the fountain over or
otherwise make a big mess, but they've been treating it very nicely.  I'm
also very impressed by the obvious amount of attention to detail that has
been spent on this thing.  The fountain is very "rounded" in shape; the
ferrets can't climb up the sides or sit on the top or otherwise go where
they shouldn't go.  There are no moving parts accessible to them so they
can't get hurt.  The water flows down a ramp into a reservoir; this makes
the water flow very, very quiet.  The pump is TOTALLY silent; it is on the
floor about three feet from me as I write this and I cannot hear ANYTHING
from the fountain, including the water flow.  The fountain has a charcoal
filter in it; in the ~3 days it's been running I haven't seen a single
speck of dust, dirt, hair, or ANY kind of contaminant in the water bowl,
and it's sitting right outside of the ferrets' cage.  On the convenience
side, it holds 50 ounces of water and includes an easily refillable
reservoir.  The flow rate is adjustable but even on the lowest setting
it's more than enough to keep things flowing nicely.
 
The ONLY potential downsides: First, the unit is rather on the large side --
about 13"x9"x7" tall.  Kinda big for a water bowl.  Second, the unit has
handles in the form of open spaces at the base.  Normally this would be a
feature, but with ferrets they will undoubtedly try to get underneath the
bowl via those handles.  Third, the flow rate CAN be set "too high".  When
the pump is set to half power or higher, the water bubbles up so high that
it goes slightly past the top of the water reservoir, leading to a small
but constant trickle of water down the side.  (Adjusting the flow to a
lower setting cures this little design flaw.)  And fourth, because it is a
FILTERED fountain, you can't add things like vitamins (e.g., VitaSol) to
the water as it will be filtered out (and may gum up the pump as well).
In fairness that last point isn't unique to this fountain.  I've kept the
two water bowls in place in the cage, putting the VitaSol in there and the
fresh water in the fountain.
 
And since this is basically a glorified bowl, there is always the
possibility of the ferrets tipping it over.  A little Velcro (the hard
part) on the bottom of the fountain attaches it fairly strongly to the
carpet so my ferrets haven't been able to tip it (though admittedly I
haven't really seem them try), but if you have particularly "aggressive"
ferrets you might want to consider ways of securing it against tipping.
 
I haven't been able to find the manufacturer's web page for this fountain,
but I have seen it online in a few places.  There's some good photos and
descriptions of it here:
 
http://tjspetshop.com/freshflow_fountain.htm
[Posted in FML issue 3645]