I have a few questions that I haven't seen answers for anywhere...
 
I looked at the WWW page and saw the listing for ferret shelters and the
like but I didn't see anything in Texas. Are any off you in Texas or do you
know of any shelters. I'd like to bring a new ferret into my family
(currently 3 ferrets, a cat, and the occassional visit of a dog) and would
prefer to get one from a shelter over a pet store. I live in Austin and the
two animal shelters here only have cats and dogs. Any suggestions?
 
Also, does anyone know where I can found out the legalities of RAISING
ferrets? When I was in junior high school, we had two ferrets. Neither were
fixed, and though they were brother and sister we didn't really know any
better and bred them. We've raised several litters with no problems
whatsoever. (just a note: after the first litter or two we stopped breeding
brother and sister and used the male for stud service and 'borrowed' a male
for the female when she went in heat) Back then, however, I'm not sure there
were any laws about keeping unneutered ferrets or about breeding them. Does
anyone know what the laws are now in Texas? Or at least where I can find
out. I don't even know where to begin.
 
Lastly, two of my ferrets are definetly considered 'sable,' one of those two
has the silvery paws. The third, when a kit, had the same markings of the
other two, but his fur was pretty silvery. Now, his coat is... well, very
light. He has some darker fur but mostly just the grayish silver. Now, my
question... I've glanced at a more than a few ferret books and I have yet to
see a decent description of the ferret colorations. Mostly, they say
something like, "An onyx-eyed white's fur should be blah blah" but they
don't tell me really what makes it an onyx-eyed white. If they could just
have a picture showing, "this is what we classify a silver-mitt... this is a
cinnimmon... this is..." I'd be much less confused. It's not important to me
what color my babies are because I love them dearly, but I never know what
to say to people that I talk to (that haven't SEEN them) to tell them what
they are classified as. Would someone be so kind as to direct me to a good
description or a book the shows pictures to compare... or just TELL me. :)
I'm so confused...
 
Thank you,
  Anna and her three colorless babies
[Posted in FML issue 1090]