I usually just lurk here, but tonight I just wanted to answer a few,
since they kinda reached out and 'grabbed' me for various reasons...
 
 >Subject: How to Make Treats
 >I have another question.  I'm interested in making my own ferret
treats!
 >But I need some idea that are ferret safe!  Safe ingredients etc.
 
One idea I've had (but never tried) was to do something like Bob C's
chicken gravy, but a less labor-intensive version... maybe with canned
chicken and tuna instead of ground whole chicken, etc, and try baking it
into little crunchy bits.  If you could make a paste with meat, eggs,
oil
(cod liver and olive oil are my girls' favorites), some liver, etc., and
make little baked treats with it (maybe by dropping the paste onto a
greased cookie sheet with a syringe?), you'd have a ferret-friendly
baked treat with no major carbs or sugar...
 
Homemade dried meat treats, like jerky without all the spices and
preservatives added, would also be healthy, but a lot less hassle to
make. ;-)
 
 >Subject: New to the list
 >  # 3 ~ We could adopt all 3??  IF......my husband will go for it!!
 >lol..... Is there one choice that is the best?  Second?  Third?
 >
 >With work and love - will a 3-4 year old ferret come around and stop
 >biting?
 
I think having 4 ferrets is the best arrangement!  I've never tried
having more than that, but with one they get bored, with two and three
they have little sibling-rivalry spats just like human children... and
with 4, they always seem to have something to do among themselves.  And
4 is hardly any more work than three, so if you can talk him into 3,
try to convince him a 4th won't make a difference (except to the
ferrets,
of course).
 
I've gotten adult biters before too, and with consistent discipline (say
no, scruff them, and put them on the floor every time they bite),
they've
all gotten over it eventually.  Some are faster learners than others,
but
you can say the same of us humans. ;-)
 
 >Subject: Litterbox training
 > ...they will go right in front of the closet door, 6 inches from the
 >litter box.  I've tried placing a towel similar to the one inside their
 >cage to deter them, but recently they've started pooping on the towel.
 >I've used natures miracle, doesn't seem to help.
 
ME TOO!!!  Ugh.  They love the front doorway, right next to the litter
box.  They love parts of the cage floor, and when I try to put bedding
down, they just start pooping on the bedding.  Natures Miracle?  Saves
me from the smell, but doesn't seem to make a difference to them.  Any
new ideas on this one are MORE than welcome!
 
 >Subject: Re: Thoughts of a saved ferret
 >The question about "so much G.D. money" reminds me of why I avoided
 >mentioning my ferrets to a certain relative.
 
My mom... She's owned cats, bred dogs my whole life... when I told her
about a $200 vet bill for my poor boy Zan last year (which is nothing
compared to some), she started in on how a ferret isn't worth it.  I
asked why her dogs were worth it, and she said because she breeds them
and makes money.  I asked why her retired and non-breeding dogs were
"worth it" then, and she got quiet for a really long time, and then
changed the subject.
 
Cat people never understand dog people.  Dog people never understand
cat people.  Nobody seems to understand ferret people. ;-)  Except
our ferrets, and that's really all that matters in the end, isn't it?
 
--
Teresa Knezek
http://www.mivox.com/
 
"Wit is educated insolence."
        -- Aristotle
[Posted in FML issue 4554]