Hello all, well 1st. let me introduce myself. my name is mike and im the
proud (yet sad) owner of Calvin (1.5yr old silver mitt). i was quite
happy to see that there was a place for ferret lovers to gather.
 
i have a few questions today that i hope will be answered by others here
at fml-
 
1) does anyone know about the existence of a bylaw in windsor ont. that
forbids our furry friends. currently Cal is staying with my parents (mom
loves him :)) but i would really like to bring him to live with me while
im at school. so far ive been told that a) ferrets are NOT allowed in
windsor as a result of problems in the past b) ferrets are allowed but
MUST be registered c) ferrets are not a problem at all. sadly i cant seem
to get any definate answer and am running out of patience. i want him
here but dont want to risk losing him.
 
[I seem to remember Windsor and Oshawa being listed as FFZs.  The simplest
thing to do is contact bylaw enforcement in Windsor (see your blue pages
under municipal government) and ask.]
 
2) is there a way to fully train a ferret to a leash?
although i won't walk him in the winter (vets advice) i take him for
walks about 3 times a week during the summer. these walks are a mixture
of him trotting along my side sniffing the air and the regular
application of ferret brakes (spreadout with nails digging into thr
ground to prevent movement) the only way to get him going again is to
pick him up, walk 5 feet and then set him down again at which point he
starts walking contently. is this normal? do walks go by HIS terms and am
i left to oblige? help.
 
3) Cal is usually a great guy but he occasionally gets into fits of
biting (esp my girlfriend) he'll be walking around contently observing
his surrounding when all of a sudden he goes into a ferret dance and
starts chasing my girlfrined. she seems to think he's jealous of her
since he really doesn't do it to me but im not sure. and yes this is
another obstacle in getting Cal to live here in windsor (she doesn't want
him here if he's gonna "attack" her in our apartment) is Cal just playing
and trying to get her to play with him or is he actually attacking her?
 
4) Back at my parents place Cal lives in a 4X4X2 foot enclosure with
regular run of my room (when im home) yet he seems to freak out when he
is first out of 'his room'. is Cal just showing his excitement for being
out of the 'cage'? is there any hope of him calming down (again in
reference to him living with me in windsor i would like to give him run
of the apartment as often as possible but we don't want him destroying
the place) is 'ferret proofing' the only solution or can he be 'trained'
to relax outside of his private domain.
 
        I should have had a disclaimer at the beginning of this post but
better late than never. Cal was given to me by my girlfriend when he was
still a pup (kit?) (~6months old). a friend of hers had him but soon
realized he required alot more attention than a hampster and gave him up
for adoption. i had read (a bit) about ferrets and decided to help her
out. since then hes been neutured and has become a wonderful (if not
confusing) addition to my life. i really like having him but am generally
caught short of knowing alot about his proper upkeep and well being. i
try to learn as much as possible about ferrets but i find books rather
limited and most of the pet shop owners i've talked to (who DO sell
ferrets) seem to know as much or less than i do. thats about it. i
appolijize for the extreme lenght and look forward to the advice sharing
of fellow ferret lovers.
 
cheers,
 
[Posted in FML issue 0999]