My flatmate and I just brought home two ferrets for the first time a couple
of days ago- it's been fun so far but we've got a few questions we haven't
been able to find answers to:
 
1) How important is cage flooring?  The cage is currently just bare wire
except for the sleeping pouch and a jeans leg on a balcony section.
Should I definitely get some linoleum or carpet to put down?
 
2) We've got a couch they love to run under.  What I'd *like* to do it
wrap some kind of plastic wall-base materialall around the base of it.
I'd need a roll (or slicable sheet) of thick flexible clearplastic (but
not too flexible) about 22' x 3" (7m x 10cm).  A friend of mine once had
a tablecloth of that sort of material.  Does such a thing even exist
somewhere?  The closest I've seen is the rubberized plastic mats that go
on top of rugs; Home Depot sells them in 27"-wide rolls, and I could cut
that up, but I'd prefer entirely clear plastic, and a roll if possible.
 
3) How high will an adult male be able to jump?  I'm probably going to buy
a sheet of plexiglass and build a sliding door to keep them out of the
kitchen.  Will 24" be enough?
 
4) Last night, Zoom (female, ~13 weeks) started snuffling like she might
want to sneeze; she then vomited a couple of times.  Her breathing cleared
up before she went to sleep, and this morning she's eating, pooping, and
romping normally.  I saved some of the bits from the vomit and they dried
and shriveled up overnight so I assume they were food and not foreign.  I
assume she was probably just overexcited?
 
5) Doofus (male, ~12 weeks) likes to chew on Zoom's ear while she's
sleeping; he doesn't *seem* to be chewing too hard, and she never makes
noise or even wakes up.  Her ear doesn't appear damaged at all.  Is he
just being safely silly or should we put a stop to this?  (I'm a little
leary of putting bitter stuff on her ears).
 
6) Their attention spans are currently measured in milliseconds.  They'll
bat a ball once then run on, or be bouncing around and try to grab
something but forget to stop bouncing and just bound away.  Will they gain
some focus as they age and/or learn the turf?
 
Thanks much for any help!
 
Scott, LeaAnn, Doofus (working title :) and Zoom
 
--
Scott E Kullberg <*>  [log in to unmask] --><--
 "I thought everyone liked "Quark" ice cream. I've got all three colors in
  all six flavors." -- 'Freefall' http://www.purrsia.com/freefall/
[Posted in FML issue 2695]