Hello, my name is Craig Lytton and I have been lurking on the list for a
few weeks and have finally decided to post something...
  I bought my first ferret about a month ago from a mall pet store.  He
is a neutered (or so I am told) male sable now named Zeno.  He was the
biggest ferret in the batch at the store and when I first picked him up
he promptly bit me on the nose ( but didn't draw blood).  I chose him because
he was the most agressive ferret in the melle that was going on in the ferret
pen.  He has two dots tatooed in his right ear so I assume he is MF.
  From what I have read on this list I must have bought the most perfect,
angelic ferret that has ever existed.  He took to his litterbox training
perfectly, having only two accidents before he caught on.  Since then
he has been almost 100% on target except for one night that I left him out but
it was on linoleum.  He has only bitten hard enough to hurt 3 times, and has
never drawn blood.  He nips once in a while when he's playing hard, but
never very hard and most of his bites are to sock-covered feet which he
is only recently figuring out.  He stopped digging carpet after only a
couple of warnings and I have been letting him have free reign of the house
for the past few nights without supervision (knock on wood).  I might add
that my apartment has been thoroughly ferretproofed!!!  He has already learned
to roll over when he wants a treat and I'm working on other tricks.  He
has only one problem..
  Zeno is insane for Mountain Dew (my favorite drink) and to a lesser extent
any other carbonated beverage!  He will run over and DUNK his head into any
glass he can get to, and will start dragging off any cup with a lid.  He can
drag a Super-sized MCDonalds cup at a full run!  Since he occasionally is able
to run the gauntlet and actually get to a drink, my question is......
  Will drinking Mountain Dew and other carbonated beverages actually harm him?
He occasionally gets a good swallow before getting caught and hasn't shown
any side effects yet.
 
  If anyone wants to just talk about anything at all about ferrets, feel
free to mail me at [log in to unmask]
 
thanks,
 
  Craig
 
P.S.  He will run up and start licking my lips if he sees me take a drink of
      Mt. Dew!!!!!
 
P.S.S.  I really like the list, especially the humorous ferret stories.  But
      where can I find out more about ECE or whatever its called?  I saw
      nothing about it in the FAQ.
 
its late, goodbye
[Posted in FML issue 1259]