My family and I took a trip through a few states and did by chance spend
some time in hotels.  One caution I would take is not to let them run in
the hotel room.  I had a bad experience when my daughter got her own
apartment and Calvin and I went for a visit.  It was the second day that
she had moved in and he was having a wonderful time checking out the place
and everything in it.  We stayed only about an hour but on our return home,
Calvin shortly started experiencing respiratory problems.  Open mouth
breathing and major major restlessness and excitablility.  This went on
for about an hour - I wasn't about to go to bed - we were too worried.  We
suddenly had a thought about exposure to pesticides.  Alot of times they
spray hotel rooms and apartments with commercial pesticides for insect
problems.  I gave Calvin a complete bath and thankfully he returned to
normal within about 30 minutes.  After that I just couldn't take any
chances in a strange room although we did let him out to play on the bed
supervised.  It was a little difficult keeping him up there but at least he
got to be included for awhile.
 
We didn't tell them we had a ferret at the desk.  Just brought our cage in
the side door.  I did take him for morning walks outside and had my eye out
for strange dogs as there were people walking animals.  Also I brought my
own water jug from home as I did not know how so many different types of
water might affect him.  We made sure we had the rabies certificate and I
kept it handy in my purse.
 
As far as the weather, we live in Michigan and I'm sure my ferrets have
their winter coats.  They don't really go out much when it is cold.  You do
want to keep the cages away from cold drafts, hot air registers and direct
sunlight.  Hopefully your ferrets will grow their winter coats after
arrival.  Good luck with your new home.
 
One more note on our vacation.  We camped in the Smokey Mountains along
side a rushing river.  When I took Calvin for walks around the park he
learned to recognize our campsite and run towards it.  This was pretty hard
to believe but I figured it out.  He associated our campsite with the sound
of the water which you could not hear in the main part of the park.  He's
not only my sweet Buttnut but smart too!
 
Eunice  &  Calvin  (You know I like to help load that dishwasher)
           Gypsy (There's good stuff in that frig - how come it's so cold?)
           Mario  the cat (I really won't eat those ferrets)
           Yoshi  the cat (Help!   that ferret doesn't know I'm a cat)
[Posted in FML issue 2504]