hi, i'm new to the list..  i've had lots of ferrets my whole life, but
never a baby.  in fact, all the ferrets i've had before, except for one,
i was a kid myself when i had them so my mom took care of them.
 
so, i got a brand new baby for my birthday..  her name is mollie, shes very
little-- hand sized... the guy at the pet store said she was 6 weeks but he
seemed unsure.  here are my questions--
 
1. i am feeding her ferret food, wetting it down so it is mushy.  it is
the same brand they used in the pet store- i'm at work now and the name
escapes me- i know she eats it but it doesnt seem like shes eating much.
my adult ferret (who lives with my mom because he likes her better) eats
like a pig, but my baby never seems to make a noticable dent in her food.
how much do little ones eat in a day?
 
2.) what else are my options if shes not eating enough?
 
3.) she "quacks" when she can see me but i'm not devoting all of my
attention to her.  like i've said, i have had lots of ferrets but never
one that quacked.  she's louder than a puppy!  Do most ferrets do that as
a baby and then grow out of it?  i dont want her to grow out of it.  i
like her to talk to me.  my other ferrets only beeped.  she talks to me.
 
4.) i live in an apartment on the second floor.  we have hard wood floors,
and rather than having a wall between the stairs and the living room, there
is a wooden railing.  do you think that i have to put something up so that
she doesnt jump/ fall from the living room to the landing?  i would think
that as long as she grows up in the apartment, she'll be fine, but shes
convinced that she is evel kinevel and she's taken several tumbles off of
the top of the couch, luckily only into a pile of blankets.  do you think
its likely she'll want to see what its like falling 10 feet?
 
5.) i used to have WHITE hair.  i mean white.  i used to wash my hair with
a shampoo that had blue agents in it that made my hair look cleaner and not
so yellow.  do they make such a product for show animals or someting that
is safe for ferrets?  mollie has a lot of white on her that looks like it
gets stained from pee/food.
 
6.) finally, she is obviously weaned, but she has marked me, not my BF, as
her "mommy" and she likes to hold my finger in her hands and chew.  is she
just chewing to chew or does she think that milk is goign to come out?
 
thanks to anyone who reads this and answers it!
 
-lalisa
[Posted in FML issue 3392]