I have only posted once before, so I will introduce myself and our ferrets.
We are new owners, my son desperately wanted a ferret so we did lots of
research, read several books, and I started reading the postings here long
before we got our cute fuzzies.  We had two shipped from a breeder in PA, a
BEW male and a black sable female.  We got them right after Thanksgiving at
seven weeks.  The BEW got tagged as Gandolf the White and belongs to my son
Ian, and the female as Xena, Warrior Princess., Xena is cared for by my
husband Leo and myself.  Xena is why I posted my only question, which was
about what I thought was a bad biting problem.  Now that I understand
ferrets a little more, I think she was afraid.  But I read a very good
article in Ferrets USA, 1998 annual, called Stop the Biting.  The article is
written by Patricia Curtis and she operates a rescue shelter in Texas.  She
gives her phone number and e-mail address in that article for folks who are
really having a difficult time with that problem.  I did not receive any
feedback at all, so felt I was stupid to even ask.  I'm hoping that other
new owners will find this article as helpful as I did.  I got several other
great hints from other articles that I did not find in any of the books I
had read, some training info, etc.  So I just wanted to let other new owners
know, that if you don't find it here, keep looking the info is out there
somewhere.  Xena much to our delight, rarely nips at all, and usually gives
kisses on command, Gandolf is another story.  But they are still very young
and we are still finding our way to learning how to be better ferret owners.
We have had many pets, but nothing is similar to a ferret.
 
I am writing to ask for advice about Xena.  We have a good vet and they have
both had exams and shots.  Xena seems to get very excited and runs around
making lots of noise and then if not calmed down, tends to throw up.  She
does not do this every day, or every other day, sometimes she throws up more
than once a day.  Nothing funny is ever in it, just digested or partially
digested food.  I asked the vet and he said to see if it had a pattern,
which i cannot discern, although it does seem to come from getting too
excited.  However they stay in a ferret proofed room, and we are not always
in the room to see everything that happens> I was wondering if perhaps I
should change the food?  We feed half 8-1 Ferret and half Iams kitten.  Xena
has a clean bill of health, does not seem to lose any weight, seems happy,
although she does make a clicking sound when she gets excited, which Gandolf
never does.  Does anybody have any clues?  Does anyone else have any
experience with this??  Any clues would be appreciated.  Thanks to all!  I
have learned an amazing amount from this service.  Thanks to Bill!!!
 
Pat
[Posted in FML issue 2213]