Hi!
I just wanted to thank everyone who gave me input on why mollie wasnt
eating--- it was a great help.  she's eating now and quite piggishly, i
might add- and she's giving me dirty looks right now because i'm on the
computer and not playing with her.  So, i have one more (batch of)
question(s) for you guys.  Most revolve around poop.
 
first off, she has a cage with 2 full levels and 2 little levels.  she can
get from the top to the bottom (or vice versa) in about 10 seconds or less.
her litter box is on the bottom.  she poops in there if its convenient,
otherwise she poops on the top level.  since i'm not here all day to
correct her in the act, how can i get her to stop?  i'd rather not clutter
up her play area with another litter box, even the triangle kind.  any
ideas?
 
secondly, i love mollie, but she really is a dirty ferret.  Cody, my other
ferret who lives with my mom, is repulsed by his own poop, or anything
sticky or smelly for that matter.  he will not use his litter box if there
is more than one poop in each corner.  Mollie however steps in, lays in,
swipes her tail through, and sits in her own poop (and i do change the box
quite often).  she'll eat her food and get it all over her face, to the
point where it gets crusted around her mouth.  if i squirt a squirt of her
vitamins on a special dish, she'll walk through it and get it all over her
floor, and then walk through the foot prints, distributing it all over the
rest of her body.  i've had her a week and a half, and i've given her 3
baths, not because she smells but because every 3 days or so she ends up
having something crusted on to her fur that i cant get off with out a bath.
if anyone can figure out this one, i owe you one.
 
non poop-related she's 8 weeks old almost- how old (or how long after
getting a furt) should they be before you let them roam around, like under
furniture and such?  right now we just play on the couch, or on the floor,
supervised every second.  when is it a good time to give them more
independence (once the house is ferret proofed, that is)?
 
finally, the not-so-pretty side of mollie: her butt.  She is very healhy
and happy, (hyper)active and ferret like.  she's eating healthy now,
pooping regularly.  she had slight diarrhea one day when we first started
mixing canned food into her food, but she has a decent poop now- but her
butt hole is an outie not an innie.  it doesnt look sore or irritated, it
just sticks out instead of in.  she gets litter stuck to it sometimes.  and
while her "outtie" itself is clean, it is bordered by a brown circle of
poop.  is the "outie" indicative of anything?  it was there when we got
her.  it has neither come out more nor gone in any.  none of the other
ferrets i've ever had have had this.  they've also never had any trace of
crap in or around their butts after the deed is done.  she never has any
in, but like i said, around is a different story.
 
i want to thank anyone who reads this far, let alone responds.  i know i
talk to much but you all seem very knowlegable.  thanks again.
 
-lalisa & "la-mollie"
[Posted in FML issue 3397]