Condolences to those with sick, missing, or angeled party-poopers...
 
First, let me share my heart-felt sorrow with those of you who have lost
your little fur-butts.  Though my emotional stability isn't near strong
enough to read your posts of loss (I do occasionally, but end up extremely
depressed for a very long time), I at least read every top in the list and
know when a baby has passed on.  My heart breaks every time I hear of a
little fert going across the Rainbow Bridge.  Though I know they are going
to a far better place than anywhere here on Earth, I still wish they could
have remained just a little bit longer, to bring a little more happiness
to their loved ones.
 
My Rusti is now 7 1/2 years old.  She looks it, too...except for her face.
Cutest thing you've ever seen! :)  Today, I let her out for a bit while Taz
(my ferret-who-doesn't-know-he's-a-ferret ferret) was cruising through the
house.  He found her munching on a snack on the couch.  I was shocked to
see him approach her, do the ferret-sniff thingie at her tail-end, then
proceed to "dominate" her!  He was pushing her around with his massive
head, licking her ears and nuzzling her!  Since he's about 3 times her
size, I had to finally put a stop to is, as she was beginning to become
concerned.  But I think that Taz has finally found another ferret that
doesn't frighten him!  I wonder if he will play with her...
 
Potty training while a ferret (especially a *young* ferret) is out roaming
through the house, is hard.  A lot of people that have a new (or a baby)
ferret don't realize just how much work is really *necessary* in order to
get the ferret to know the rules.  Just like you would pay extremely
close attention to a baby who has learned to crawl, you also have to pay
extremely close attention to a young ferret, or one who has been introduced
into a new, larger world.
 
That mean you don't let the ferret out and then to go laundry, or mop the
bathroom, or cook dinner.  You let the ferret out and then stay there,
watching what your fert does.  You watch where it goes, how it acts, what
it pays the most attention to, what warrents more investigation, etc.  This
isn't a job that's done in one afternoon, either.  This can take days, or
even weeks.
 
You have one of two choices, once you have the ferret.  Either get your
work done FIRST, *then* let the ferret out while you have time to pay
attention, or leave the ferret in a severely restricted area where the
ferret can (literally) do what it wants, without getting angry with it.
The logic here isn't really new.  If you have a baby that has just learned
to crawl, you don't plop her down in the middle of the living room floor,
then wander off to iron your laundry.  You put her down, then almost STARE
at her, to see what she does.  You follow her wanderings to see what she
tries to get into, then either redirect her if you don't want her in
something, or show her how to get things out, such as toys and things.  A
new, or baby ferret deserves no less attention.  It might be a pain in the
rear to have to go through this, but it is something that should be done
right, right at the beginning.  It isn't fair to do any less than this.
Your ferret deserves the time and attention to learn what you expect, where
they are allowed to be, and where to do their business.  Now, having said
all of this, let me tell you how I've come to get a better-than-90% hit
rate from all of my ferrets, when they are out of their cages.
 
First, I watch where they go to poop.  Even if there is no litter box
there, a ferret will pick some favorite spots.  Once I've determined where
they find it most fun to "go", I put a litter box in that place, filled
with the same litter they have in their cage.  However, knowing ferrets, I
don't just put a litterbox there.  I also put newspapers down (at least a
4-page section) under the box, to extend up to 12 inches out from the box.
This is for those that like to "go in the neighborhood", yet still doesn't
require a lot of work to clean up.
 
For those areas that get hit really hard, it pays to put a large,
heavy-duty plastic garbage bag down first, then put the newspaper and
finally the litter box, on top.  Replace the bag as necessary.  It can
also help to put a layer of clumping litter in the middle of the newspaper,
to absorb larger soakings.  This tends to keep the dampness from getting
through to the carpet/floor underneath.  Clean up the newspaper carefully,
when you choose this option!
 
For those that find the expense of putting litter boxes everywhere, go to
Wal-Mart and go in the cat aisle.  You will find small litter boxes for
about $2 each, which work quite well for smaller (average 2 - 3 pounds)
ferrets!
 
The catch here, is that you will have to "make the rounds" each day, after
you have put your furry (or furries) to bed and scoop, refill, change, etc.
I have to do this with three different shifts of ferrets, so I *know* from
where I speak!  It takes about 1/2 hour per day to clean up everyone's
deposits.  However, it's a half hour that I don't mind, since it gives my
little kids much more freedom.
 
Finally, I got a funny!  Add-A-Kiss, who's really just a slip of a fert
(her ego is about 4 times her size, though) had found out how to escape
from her cage.  I wired the doors shut.  Ten seconds later, she was at my
feet, asking to be held.  I welded the doors shut.  Ten seconds later, she
was at my feet.  She wasn't escaping through the doors (there are two on
her cage).  Neither of the other two were getting out, either.  I thought
maybe Scotty, from the Enterprise, was beaming her out and snickering into
his sleeve at me.
 
It turns out that the top, rear corner of the cage had become mis-shapen.
Apparently, at one time or another before I got that cage, someone had
bumped a lower part of it, causing the top corner to bulge out.  This
resulted in a space *just* large enough for her to suck in her belly and
ooze out through.
 
This wasn't immediately obvious.  When I let her cage-mates out to play, I
put her back in and latched the doors, then sat there and watched her.  She
sat there and watched me, knowing what I was doing.  However, I can
out-stare a cat, so she lost.
 
Wanting out to play, she began to nervously scamper through her cage, from
one level to the next.  Though she poked her nose through the openings
around each door, she never really tried to get out that way.  Finally, she
went to the corner, stuffed her snout into the opening and *thought* she
was going to escape!
 
Heh!  "Good try!" says I!  I had used a hammer and a pair of pliers on the
bent area and put it back into its (well, almost) original shape.  She
didn't fit anymore!  Scotty!  Move the Enterprise back into your own time
zone!  On a side note: Fuzzer, when he saw me working in his cage, came
up and gave me a (gentle) bite on the hand, to tell me to leave his cage
alone! :)  When I stopped hammering, he let go...when I started again, he
bit again! :)  He's the Alpha Male, alright! :)
 
Todd and the Fuzzbutt Rodeo Clowns!
 
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[Posted in FML issue 3370]