Hi everyone!  I thought I'd re-open the infamous topic of keeping ferrets
in a cage out doors...
 
I have recently moved from the U.S.  to Germany.  Like everyone else, I
kept all of my ferrets in the house with me, precious babies that they
were.  My last died in August 2001 and since moving to Germany, I have
been yearning to again be a ferret slave.
 
I'm in the middle of doing tons of research on various topics before
this happens (like, "Can I bring them back to the U.S. with me when I
return?" and "What are the doctors and the diets like over here?") and
in thinking about the available locations of where to put a cage in our
apartment, I realized that we have a possibly perfect place on our large,
covered balcony.
 
Given that many people in England and Europe keep their ferrets outside,
and given that they could get more natural darkness on our porch (we are
in a small village in the middle of nowhere - no city lights), which is
an important consideration for me since 3 of my 4 in the US had adrenal,
I researched the topic in the FML archives but didn't find too much.
 
Those of you who keep your ferrets in outside cages (US or Europe), what
considerations are there in terms of heat/cold, pests and other things
that I should think about?  I think I am most nervous about fleas, ticks
and mosquito bites!
 
For those of you who feeling your blood pressure rising and think "How
could she even think of keeping her babies outside in the heat?", you
should know that even HUMANS don't get air conditioning in Germany.  It
does not exist in most homes and I think that I just might want to live
on the porch this summer too...I have a great room upstairs for them for
the winter months when it's really cold, but they would melt in there in
the summer.
 
Thanks for your feedback - Emily
[Posted in FML issue 4155]