After joining this list 3 years ago to learn about ferrets and reading every
single issue from #1 on, all the time wanting a ferret more and more, I
finally have one!  My wife (who was originally against owning a ferret --
see my message a few issues ago about how to convince a SO to accept
ferrets) actually instigated the sudden ferret acquirance.  A week ago on
Wednesday, we were killing time waiting for a table at a restaurant in
Boulder by browsing in the pet shop next door.  My wife asked to hold one of
the 5 baby sable ferrets the store had and within 2 seconds became extremely
attached.  He's a Marshall Farms ferret and only 7 weeks old, so I wasn't
too thrilled about the potential future medical problems that come with him,
but there was no telling Michelle no (how could I say no to something I had
wanted for so long?!?).  We put down a deposit on him and left him in the
pet store's care until the next morning when we could bring a proper travel
cage for him to come home in and spend enough time getting the proper supplies.
And the pet store (Colorado Pet Supply, I think) took very good care of
him.  The clerk who showed him to us originally played with him before
Michelle asked to hold him and for a while after we reserved him, and owns
2 ferrets of his own.  His knowledge was impressive, especially compared
to a mall-pet-store clerk's knowledge (what knowledge? :-)).
 
I named the new guy Nikkei (you closet investors in the group know where
that name comes from, and yes, I plan to use more names from the series).
He has been slow to start but is picking up size, speed, and squirminess
every day.  He was good about not going to the dangerous places that we
haven't had time to ferretproof until yesterday, when he started his
ferret-proofing with glee.  He got his first bath yesterday after he
discovered the underside of the fireplace grate and the fun of rolling
in ashes.  We are working on the litter-training inside his cage, and not
giving him long enough outside the cage to need a litter-pan (we give
him many 15-20 minute play sessions during the day, so he gets plenty of
exercise time).  He had a lot of fun with the litter the first time we
put it in his pan (we didn't have quite as much fun cleaning the litter
up from the 5-foot radius around the cage :-)).
 
I started him on a mix of food immediately so he wouldn't get fixated on
any one kind.  He shows equal liking for Science Diet, IAMS, and Purina
Ferret Chow so far.  As treats go, he could care less about raisins,
eats cheerios, but only after they've been in his food bowl a while and
never from my hand, and finally has decided he likes ferretone.  We haven't
tried anything else on him yet.
 
The following objects have become toys: dryer hose (immediate success!),
whiffle golf ball (also successful), empty toilet paper tube (much fun!),
leather deck shoes and winter boots (not meant to be toys, but he sure likes
them), my leather bomber jacket ("So this is what the inside of a cow
looks like!  Man, I've gotta get that book on killing cows so I can get
my own cow to live in!"), an old sock, knotted (not much success at all
except when he is in his cage and extremely bored), and finally a jingle
bell (also an unintentional toy, but BOY does he go crazy over it!).  Try
"ferret fishing" -- put a larger-than-ferret-mouth size jingle bell on
a 2-foot length of sturdy ribbon and let your ferret try to catch the
jingle bell.  A really great toy combination has been putting the whiffle
golf ball inside the dryer hose and putting the hose in a loop with an inch
of space between each end.  How many laps will your ferret do?  Nikkei did
at least 5.
 
Well, this message is getting too long, but I wanted to share my good
news with all of you.
 
Kirk, Michelle, and Nikkei (destroyer of deck shoes, at least in his own
                            mind)
Westminster, CO
[Posted in FML issue 1094]