Timely questions/advice:
People living on the left coast can submit posts knowing other left
coasters will still be up, can read and respond that very night.  I often
stay up till 11 pm, the average time the FML rolls in.  Those on the other
side of the moon I mean the US probably don't read their FML till the
following morning.  So a Calif. person would think it the thing to do, to
ask for advice about a dire situation, where a New Yorker might never do
this.
 
Feeding duck soups:
For resistant ferrets, those that won't try a food item they don't
recognize, tube feeding for a few days may be all it takes to get them
accustomed to the taste, and lapping it up on their own.  Any size syringe
will do.  I actually like the little diabetic types better (the needles
pull right off) then large feeding syringes, but the larger the barrel, the
less often it has to be refilled.  Some ferrets even fight tube feeding, so
for these strong willed guys, dip the tip of the syringe (after filling)
into a small saucer of Ferretone.  Immediately the ferret will lap at the
ferretone, and down the hatch goes the duck soup.  Re-dip after each fill.
Also, floating Ferretone on duck soup will increase the liklihood of their
eating it.
 
Rice containers:
K-Mart is selling clear plastic storage containers with white lids for
$9.99.  The container is 30 inches in interior length and 20 wide.  The
exterior measures 36 inches long.  They are about 15/18 inches high.  My
ferrets currently have 3 of the 20 pound bags of rice in theirs, enough so
they can plunge their heads well into it.  We added the 3rd bag just this
morning, and took pictures of them dancing under the rain of rice!
 
No,no, it's not a litter pan:
Cover your rice container at night, and be sure the ferrets have pottied in
the morning before un-covering it.  When ours was new, I'd let the ferrets
out, and right away, somebody would leap in the rice and back into a
corner.  I would whisk them out and plop them into an approved potty box.
Now I leave the rice covered for the first 15 minutes or so.
 
Georgia - the left coast one...
[Posted in FML issue 2694]