Well after reading this list for a while, buying books and researching on
the web, I found out that I had a lot more money available than I thought,
I went and bought 2 adorable little fuzzies for me and my boyfriend.
Ferret math struck us once we got to Las Vegas, when after going to two
different pet stores we wound up with 2 ferrets when we were just going to
get one.  Both are about 12 weeks old, although our chocolate blaze (Nigel)
is quite a bit larger than our sable blaze/panda wannabe (Sebastian).
 
They are doing well in their new home.  We've had them about a week and a
half and have loved every minute of it (well almost -- I can't say I
absolutely love cleaning out the litter boxes or the messes when they've
missed).  They've mastered the litter box (well, at least in their cage ..
they have problems when in the play room), and aren't nipping as much as
they used to.  We had them mostly caged for about a week (the living room
hasn't been ferret proofed yet so they got carefully supervised play times)
but now that we've plexi-glassed off the hallway, they are out most of the
day.  We put them up at night because for some reason they won't go in the
litter box and the less mess on our carpets the better.  My theory is that
Nigel doesn't like the type we have and has taught Sebastian not to go in
it as well (after Sebastian had been doing so well -- he learned the play
room littler box much faster than the cage litter box).  So now we have
ferret poop all around the litter box ..  but none it it.  *Sigh* Gotta
make another trip to the pet store to buy another litter box.
 
After reading the posts about deafness and blazes, it made me think about
my two.  Nigel for sure isn't deaf.  The best way to wake him up is to
shake a Sun-Maid raisin box filled with ferret food to make a nice rattle.
No matter what he's doing, he comes tearing after it, begging for raisin.
But I am a bit concerned about Sebastian.  We haven't been able to get him
to respond to any type of sounds, so we are afraid he's deaf.  But that
doesn't stop him from making a racket.  He's not afraid to scream his head
off if Nigel is wrestling with him or if you get near his food/water/treats
while he's eating them.
 
I would appreciate if anyone had any special tips on how to deal with a
deaf ferret to post them or write to me.  I'll be doing more research on
the web about this, but hearing first hand experience is almost always the
best.  Since I live in the wonderful state of CA (please note the sarcasm),
you can write to my yahoo address at [log in to unmask]  Just be aware
that I hardly remember to use this account, so any responses not made
within the next few days might go unnoticed for a while.
 
Rowan and BJ
with Lord Nigel Hepferret Plunkett & Leftenant Sebastian MacLeane
[Posted in FML issue 2841]