My wife and I went to the Indy Racing League 200 mile race at Walt Disney
World Saturday.  And how is that ferret related?  Because, two years ago,
we went to the same race.  As soon as that race was over, we went to the
Contemporary Hotel, which is very close to the race track, and attended the
10th Anniversary Bash of the FML.  Met some very nice ferret folks (is
there any other kind?), learned what BIG's middle name is...nope, not gonna
tell, so don't bother asking.  Taped the main event and sold copies to
benefit our local shelter.  Being out there Saturday brought back some very
pleasant memories of two years ago.
 
On another subject, I have seen reference on the FML about the need for
darkness, and ferrets preference for dark areas and, apparently, their love
of feeling like they are in an enclosed area.  Our three have a Safeguard
two-story cage with a small ledge on the second story.  The cage is about
18 inches by 30 inches and about 2 feet tall.  To this, I have added a
small cage about the size that would be almost too small for even one
ferret.  I did this by clipping the wires on both cages and putting a 4
inch wide piece of plastic sewer pipe as a short tunnel between the two.
The main cage has the food, water, litter box and two hammocks.  The small
cage has only hammocks in it.  Where do they spend 90 percent of their
time?  Yup.  In the little cage.  Why?  Well, when Cujo lost most of his
hair, I tossed a towel over the small cage, because that is where his
favorite hammock was, and where he slept.  I wanted to protect his little
naked body from drafts, whether they be from the AC or ceiling fan.  This
made the small "apartment" cage darker.  The other three then joined Cujo
in choosing it as their favorite place.  When they are out at night, if we
can't find one, we lift the towel.  Most of the time, they have just gotten
tired and voluntarily gone back to the cage, crawled into the darkened
"apartment" area and gone to sleep.
 
If you have a cage or area big enough, try giving your ferrets a covered
"private" place.  I'll bet you will find them using it more and more.
 
Charlie, Aggie, Donna, Bandit, Snowball, Valentine
Missing Cujo
[Posted in FML issue 2945]