Thanks for all of the kind, supportive and informative E-mails!  Noname is
doing well, still a nipper but getting better (then worse, then better!).
Interestingly, if I scoop her up while she's out running around loose she
does not fight me a bit even if I transfer her into the cage.  barely a
nibble, more likely just hangs there.  If I try to get her to stay in my
hands, watch out.  No cuddling for this beastie, though she'll run around
in my lap and up and down my arms.  She will bite and wiggle and if you
give her an opportunity to get her mouth around a whole finger, yow.  And
of course any kind of chasing, perceived or otherwise, runs you into a wall
of teeth!  Basically there is NO fear, just a large portion of youthful
exuberance combined with a bit of crankiness (why can't I have my
way?!?!?).  She is slowly learning that she is going to go and do what I
want, and that this large 250 pound ferret is going to win any dominance
battle.  She was following me around like a shadow tonight, I was walking
on glass afraid I was going to smoosh her (see note above about 250#!!!).
 
90 percent sure she's a she.  No little belly button thingie...methinks the
petstore owner uses "neuter" indiscriminately and the spaced out puddle
droppings were from ferret motion, not ferret anatomy.  So I'm thinking up
girl ferret names, and I would like to capture her personality (and NOT
name her "Ow dammit")...
 
Litter training went too smooth, after I blocked off the upper stories (she
could not negotiate down from level 2 to the floor level, so she started
launching off the balcony much to the dismay of my carpets).  I removed the
ladder and plan to carpet it for traction, and in the meantime put in extra
large litter box and filled all of the cage corners with extra food bowls
or bedding.  That was Monday night, she hasn't missed the box since.  Thank
goodness, because the Midwest Model 140 Ferret playpen is nearly impossible
to clean.  In a month or so I'll try adding a level and see what happens.
I want her to have a fun area because I work and she will have to stay
caged.  More on the model 140 in a future post.
 
Anyway, all is well, she still hasn't drawn blood!  And it is still beyond
my comprehension how I'm going to get her bell collar on!!
 
Todd Collins
and NoName
Just miles from Kodak, Xerox and Bausch and Lomb (unlimited copies of a =
picture of my ferret wearing sunglasses?)
[Posted in FML issue 2619]