>sure it's Pixie.  This wouldn't be so bad, but it's a Midwest cage (you
>know, the one with the trenches), and it's *really* starting to make a
>mess.  Add to this a semi-drippy water bottle, a ferret (Cinnamon) who
>prefers to dig the moistened food out of the trenches to eat it, and
 
Got one of those cages myself.  I have had problems with the food (and
worse) in the trenches; I finally gave in and moved the food up to the 3rd
floor and that seems to have solved that problem, at least the food part
of it.
 
Re: drippy water bottles, I keep a heavy ceramic bowl part full of water
just below the water bottle.  This catches any drips and also lets them
drink from the bowl if they want...so far I've found that ALL of them
prefer the bowl to the water bottle, though the bottle still gets
occasional use.
 
Not sure what to suggest about the food change; I'm trying to convince my
kids to eat some "meatloaf" I made especially for them; the kit loves the
stuff and the others aren't entirely sure about it yet.  I've heard some
people talk about ferrets "imprinting" on the kinds of foods they will
accept by a certain age; don't know if this applies?  Have you tried
putting some "incentive" on the new food such as a couple pumps of
FerretCoat or Linatone?
 
>another (Chitterbox) who's *really* bad at hitting the litterbox, and
 
I just added a third litterbox to the cage (2 rectangular 1 triangle),
that seems to have helped a lot.
 
Good luck!!
 
(WA-state) Megan
[Posted in FML issue 2550]