Does anyone have a silly ferret that can't seem to figure out what a water
bowl is?  Our male ferret, Arvind, was "rescued" from a pet shop who kept
him in a shoe-box sized cage full of sawdust and a small water bowl and food
bowl.  He knows how to drink out of the water bowl.  Our female ferret, Mya,
can't seem to figure them out.  At the pet store she was at, she was totally
spoiled with a large cage, toys, and a hammock.  She only drinks from the
water bottle in their cage.  We have a water bowl and a food bowl in another
room in case they get a snack-attack mid-play.  Mya thinks its fun to stick
her snout in the water and then sneezes the water out of her nose (and on to
everything around her).  This would be ok, but it seems that sometimes she
gets too much water in her nose and she vomits a little.  If we don't allow
her access to the water bowl, she never vomits.  What I want to know is, and
this is silly, is there any way anyone knows of to train her to use the
water bowl properly?  I mean drinking vs. snorkeling.
 
Also, a pet store in northern Atlanta that we visited had alot of ferrets.
I mean alot.  There were at least 10 ferrets in a medium size cage.  Three
or four of the fuzzies were full grown and the rest were young kits.  They
said the kits were $140 (ouch) but the "3 month olds" were $99.  I'm not
sure if it occurs to them, but nobody is going to buy an adult ferret when
they can get a cute little kit.  That's true for pretty much any animal
(except like fish and small rodents).  I was wondering if anyone knew what
happens to these older ferrets if they don't sell.  Surely they don't live
out their lives in a pet store!  I'd imagine they don't euthanize them, but
I'd think they'd somehow get them out to make way for more kits.  I doubt
any of them are current on shots, though I could be wrong.  That doesn't
seem like something a pet store would do.
 
If anyone knows, please send me a message.  I'd really like to know what
happens to those fuzzies and if there's anything I can do.  Thanks.
 
- William
 
Mya says "My uncle was a lemming...so sue me."
Arvind says "3 months old?  I'm 3 months old and I'm not that big!!"
[Posted in FML issue 1831]