Temp: Ferrets cannot handle heat.  Above 80 F is dangerous.  In my
experience, they can handle cold quite well, just like healthy dogs and
cats.  I live in a cabin in Alaska that gets below freezing at times.  My
ferts just pile up deep inside one of their hidey places with lots of nice
snuggly stuff.  They're alwasy toasty warm when they emerge.  The important
thing is that they have a nice small hole to sleep in, and preferably other
ferts to sleep with.  So, if you want to set your fert cage out in the
fresh air, keep 'em out of the sun if its hot and make sure they have
something resembling a nest box in the cage if it's cold.
 
UTI: If a ferret seems to be straining to urinate, or urinating extra
frequently, yes they could have a urinary tract infection.  In my ferret,
it was easily taken care of with a course of amoxycillin (prescribed by a
vet, thank you).  As a footnote, this ferret (Tarkio) was abandoned at a
(bad) pet store by her owners.  She'd been there a couple of months when
I found her, and she was extremely tiny.  As I had a preference for tiny
ferrets at the time (the designer ferret syndrome...), it was an easy
decision to take her home.  Well, once that tiny ferret's UTI cleared up,
she began to put on weight and put on weight and put on weight, and she's
now the most pear-shaped of the business.  She's the oldest too, and I
figure she deserves to live out the rest of her days in any form she
chooses.  No slug either, that Tark.  She can outwrestle the rest of them
put together.
 
Separate housing: This is for the person who asked how long it will be
necessary to house a new ferret separately from the existing residents.
I'm not talking about quarantine here, but getting along.  If you read the
FML for more than a few days, you will see that some ferrets hit it off
immediately and some never do, and everything in between.  Mackenzie took
about 1 1/2 years to make her peace with Khaz, and she and Tarkio are still
debating the issue.  They don't fight all the time, and sometimes I even
catch them sleeping together, but they still have spats.  For a few months,
I let Mackenzie have her own cage for sleeping, which she sometimes shared
with one of the boys she gets along fine with.  When it was time to let
them out, I let everyone else out first so they could run off their energy
in other ways than picking on Mackenzie.  When she indicated she was ready,
I'd open her door and let her decide how and when to join the fun.  This
seemed to be much less stressful for her, and eventually I noticed she
seemed happy to sleep in the cage with everyone else.  So this might be
something to try if integrating a new family member seems to be going
slowly.  But patience is the most important thing you can have when living
with ferrets (or anyone else, for that matter).
 
Blue tummy: I think this is somewhere in the FAQ (like about 50% of the
questions that appear on the FML), but I believe the blue color comes from
the undercoat (not the skin).  You're more likely to notice the undercoat
on the belly where guard hairs are scarce, and even more so if the belly
is distended (like pear-shaped Tarkio, who also has a blue belly) or after
surgery, when the belly was shaved and the undercoat is just starting to
grow back.  So it's normal.
 
Ferret Easter: In case you didn't know, this holiday is celebrated about
one week after Human Easter, when all the plastic eggs go on sale.  I just
came home with about 150 eggs, which cost me $2.00 retail this (week).  The
floor is now littered with eggs frantically trying to escape from frenzied
ferrets.  The box o' eggs is also popular tonight.
 
-- Kim, who likes her Modern Ferret (and her modern ferrets)
[Posted in FML issue 2642]