Howdy from Eden in seattle,
This weekend I had the very pleasurable experience of helping out a new
ferret owner.  She was an older lady who'd had this little adoptee Willy for
@ 3 weeks, and as far as I can tell the former owners told her less than
nothing about ferret care.  I made sure she knew about giving him ferret
chow or at least high quality kitten food insead of cat food, discussed
whether or not to descent him, what kind of treats are safe/fun, where to
find cheap toys since like our boys Willy disdains overpriced ferret
paraphernalia, and talked with her a little bit about teaching Willy not to
nip.  He's a VERY nippy ferret, enough so that she won't let children handle
him at all & is very cautious about letting adults handle him either, though
the only time he broke skin while we were handling him was when Bill
struggled to get his hand out from between Willy's teeth.  Willy refused to
let go, but it was Bill's struggling that broke skin, not the ferrets
actions.  it was almost like he was teething, though he seems way to old for
that, but the way he just wanted to chew something soft (like the fleshy
part of my thumb) against his teeth reminded me of that... Compared to my
little guys Willy is a giant, he must have weighed about 5 or 6 lbs and was
as healthy looking as you could ask for except for his ears which need
cleaning (we talked to her about how to do that gently & without damaging
the ears) They actually live in California so he'll be a fugitive, but they
already have a vet lined up who treats (and owns) ferrets clandestinely, &
who will get to do this little guys altering since he's still whole at the
moment.
 
I haven't handled a whole male in white a while I'd forgotten how musky they
are, I washed my hands very thogoughly after handling him & still when I got
home, our boys were all excited by the strange ferret smell all over us.
 
Eden and her 3 guys: Misha, Lemke & Bill (the human one)
 
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[Posted in FML issue 2012]