I haven't posted in a while, but wanted to share some of my experiences as
a brand-new ferret mom!
 
When I originally posted, I was having some problems with my newly-adopted
ferret Moogie's diet.  He was apparently originally raised on dog food, and
didn't seem to recognize anything else as edible.  He was also painfully
skinny, and had been through four homes already in the year-and-a-half of
his life.  I adopted him from our local Humane Society.
 
The food problem seems to be solved.  I've got him on Eukanuba kitten food,
and he likes that.  He still won't touch 'ferret food', though.  I have to
elaborately prepare his meals.  At first, I had to take a couple of pieces
of dog food and powder it, then dampen the Eukanuba and sprinkle the dog
food powder on for the smell he prefers.  I also dribble a little Ferretone
on.  Now, rather than dog food, I've been taking a Fruit Loop piece of
cereal and powdering that and sprinkling it over his food.  I also scatter a
few treats throughout the plate.  He chows now!  He's gained a lot of weight
and it's not so easy to feel all his bones through his skin as it was.
 
We also had a problem here with the temperatures.  For over a week, it was
over 100 degrees outside, and the air conditioning in my building was down
the entire time.  Thanks to the ferret mailing list, I knew both that
ferrets have a hard time with the heat, and I learned ways to help him out.
I froze a two-liter of water, wrapped a towel around it, put it in the
bottom of his cage under his hammock, and placed a small fan in front of the
cage, blowing slightly upward so that the cool air would reach him.  I swear
that Moogie got through that period in much better shape than any of the
rest of us!
 
He's also marvelously sweet-tempered.  He's never once offered to bite any
of us, and I have a dog, a cat, and a small child.  My daughter can pick him
up and carry him around all day without him protesting.  She even rides him
around with her in the house on her little toy car, with him sitting up on
her lap, paws on the 'steering wheel', and he doesn't seem to mind a bit.
The other animals don't seem to mind him at all either.  He and the dog
drink together out of the same bowl at the same time, and Moogie walks over
the dog all the time, if the dog's in the way.  He and the cat frequently
share the same litter box (even though he has one of his own), and they sit
side by side in the kitchen everytime I'm in there cooking (the cat's
'begging', but I think the fert's just wanting to be with me).
 
Moogie also follows us around wherever we go.  When we stop, he flops over
on one of our feet and stares upward until we start moving again.  He
doesn't make any sound at all, though; and we've only gotten a "weasel war
dance" out of him once or twice.  He's pretty laid back.
 
He steals my daughter's Barbie dolls all the time and stashes them, and also
our tv remotes.  He's also very fond of a sock that is being worn at the
time; I guess it's only fun to nibble on if there's someone inside it.
Ditto with my pantyhose.
 
He roams freely at night.  Every morning around sun-up, he wakes me by
walking all over me and licking my face.  It tickles horribly, and more so
when he weasels his way under the sheets.  This morning he crawled up my
nightgown and stopped on my back right between the shoulder blades, and
started rolling around and 'digging'.  Man!  Now, that tickles!  And he
licks all of us on the face all the time.  But you can't imagine how fast
you wake up in the morning with a ferret's tongue up your nostrils.  And he
does this every single day!  He is such an absolutely charming, endearing
creature, that I cannot imagine how he could possibly have gone through four
homes before mine.  He's a real 'keeper'!
 
Also, I want to give a special thanks to a local lady (local to me!) who
also subscribes to the ferret mailing list.  When I adopted Moogie, he came
with a cat carrier which he had been living in.  I put in a post asking if
anyone had a cage.  This particular lady saw it, and traded me a cage and
hammock for the cat carrier.  This has worked out beautifully!  Moogie fell
in love with the hammock immediately, and it was a lifesaver for me
financially, as well.
 
Thanks very very much!
[Posted in FML issue 2384]