Howdy All,
 
READ THIS FIRST!  On Saturday, February 28, in Liberty Township, Ohio (north
of Cincinnati) a ferret was found running down the street in a residential
neighborhood.  If you or anyone you know has lost a ferret in that area,
please let me know.
 
I read every day, but rarely post, however, I am feeling my oats and wanted
to say a few things about recent topics.
 
CAGES: Yesterday Melinda posted with her concerns about getting a larger
cage for her ferrets, but was concerned about safety.  I feel that she was
refering to a Midwest cage with the references to the amount of open space.
I my home I have six ferrets that live in a 3 level cage with full levels on
each floor including a balcony on the top floor.  In the 2 years I have had
this cage, only once was there any incident where I felt a ferret could have
been hurt and that was when the cage was new and one of my ferrets was
heading down a ramp and her foot got caught and she hung for a second before
dropping.  No damage was done, and that incident has not been repeated.  I
do carpet the entire cage and feel that it is a safe environment.
 
PET STORES: Monica, I also have Marshall Farms ferrets (3) and wouldn't
trade them for anything, but I don't think you are looking at the big
picture when I comes to supply and demand for these ferrets.  If your store
does not carry MF ferrets, then they will have that many that they can't
sell.  The DEMAND will drop so therefore they will not be able to SUPPLY as
many, and they will have to drop the number of ferrets produced (for lack of
a better term).  Unless you can think of a store that will open up across
the street that will sell MF kits, you will hurt their business.  It will
not, by itself, be enough to put them out of business.  If enough stores
refuse to sell ferrets from MF, Path Valley, Peterson's, Hagen, etc. then
the large scale breeders will not be able to support their business and we
will be left with small breeders that can and do take care of their kits,
alter later, and keep better records about bloodlines.
 
You seem very adament about only using local breeders for puppies and
kittens, yet do not blink when you say you buy from a large scale breeder
for ferrets.  Are there any local breeders you could work with to get
ferrets?  Have you considered not selling ferrets at the store and referring
interested parties to a local breeder or shelter?  Selling ferret supplies
is still good business, providing information about ferret ownership shows
responsibility on your part, and ferrets may be profitable, but if you do
not support MF, why sell their kits?  Your very defense that your whole day
cannot be taken up with cleaning up after ferrets suggests to me that you
may have more animals than you can attend to.
 
I am not blasting your store, I'm sure you do the best you can a provide a
good environment for the animals you keep, however, be open to suggestions
as to how you can still serve the animals needs without comprimising the
attention these baby ferrets need.  They need to get out and play; they
need human interaction and contact.
 
This is not a flame, just a public suggestion.
 
Sometimes, you just have to blab!
 
Dooks to all!
 
Rachel and the SIX Entropy Accelerators
In order of acquisition: Barnaby, Bixby, Amanda, Roo, Martok and Spooky
[Posted in FML issue 2236]