Had a little to say on each of these...
 
the watter bottle problem...the other thing to look for if you bottle
leaks, particularly if it's the kind of leak that you can't sit and watch
accumulate... is how much it gets rattled!  when my ferrets are in the
cage, they can (and do) roughhouse with each other, or dig in the hamocks
hard enough to vibrate a wall of the cage or bang into the bottle itself.
This will cause the ball to vibrate and move, and so water can leak out.
 
rabbit cage....if the cage is the standard hutch kind, as is commonly
available there are two things to be careful of...that the metal strips
used to hold it together aren't sharp and pointing where a ferret could
get cut, particularly if they are disposed to dig around in their cage.
The other thing is the door.  The ones that I've used (and use) the edges
of the "wall" around the door aren't sturdy enough to keep a ferret from
separating them from the door...which is sturdy.  Rosa can get out of the
cage within SECONDS of when I put her in and close the door if she wants to
and I don't use additional measure to secure it.  (Of course, Rosa is the
smallest of the bunch too, but if she can do it, the others will try!) I'm
securing mine at the moment with clothespins along the sides.
 
dry hair/fur.  My kids got in some really nice coats this year, but I've
noticed that they've dried out, and I was kinda woried until I realized
that MY hair had dried out some too....be CERTAIN that there are no health
problems....but also be aware that in the northern climes, it IS becoming
winter, and a lot of our homes are going to be drying out...try a
humidifier to put some moisture back in the air.  That way the air won't
take it out of everything else that's around it.  Of course, it doesn't
have to be winter for an area to dry out...this applies to anywhere it's
dry (especially if you've just moved to a dry area)!  (Be sure that they
always have water, check frequently, and pay attention to furnaces and/or
keeping a room closed and be aware of potential overheating problems.)
 
Sue
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[Posted in FML issue 2487]