I wanted to update those who might be interested about the 2 ferrets I
have in my classroom.  I teach special education and the maximum number
of students I have in my classroom at one time is 7, so it's been a very
manageble situation thus far.  The students are allowed supervised visits
to the cage at the end of class if they "earn" it.  They are not allowed
to wake them under any circumstances.  My kids have learned so much
througout this experience.  In fact, it's made all the the initial grief
I received worth it.  For instance, on Friday, another teacher entered
the room and approached the cage.  She asked if they would bite and when
I said no, she stuck her fingers through the bars.  Immediately, 4
children came to complete attention announcing the following,
 
"They're asleep and you're not pose to wake em up.  How'd you like it if
somebody poked you while you's dreamin good dreams."
 
"You ain't pose to touch em less you either put the stinky stuff on your
hands or use the bubble soap at the sink."
 
"Yeah, that's right cause they might get a cold."
 
"And if you use the stinky stuff, you have to rub it in till it dries
cause they don't like it."
 
"Miss Moore told you they don't bite but she tells us that anything with =
teeths will bite if you hurt it or scare it bad enough."
 
"Yeah she even says that about children and she's right cause my baby
sister bites me all the time."
 
The other teacher looked at me in utter disbelief that she was being
instructed to sanitize her hands before touching what she later described
as "those stinking animals." She then told the kids, "It's OK, I washed
my hands before I came down here."
 
Oh, no!  They weren't falling for that.
 
From the bosses came, "Nope, nope gotta wash em again cause you touched
the doorknob and sick folks been touchin that doorknob."
 
Man, oh man, I do love those kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They may not be
learning much academically but it's very rewarding to see them progress
socially.  They are even bringing their friends by for a tour of the
bird and ferrets.
 
All pet interaction is closely supervised and I cannot leave these
students alone in the classroom even for a few minutes.  So, unsupervised
contact is not a possibility.  My room is locked when I'm not there.
 
For those of you who might still be worried about exercise time, I
bought an exercise pen with a set of extenders for some "time out of
cage" during the school day.  Then they are allowed out of the cage for
a minimum of one hour every afternoon with free run of the room and they
LOVE it.  I've checked all walls and floor boards for holes and there
are none.
 
They have plenty of toys, sleep sacks, and blankets.
 
Are eating and drinking and pooping with the best of them.
 
They've been scratching a lot, so I ordered some flea & tick mousse.
 
Hope this eases some of the worries.
Sharon
[Posted in FML issue 4264]