Hello again.  My husband and I are getting ready to rent our first house,
so it will be different then ferret proofing the apt.  in some ways I'm
sure.  My main question is what type of material would be recommened to
seal off the entrance to under the cupboards?  My first thought was
screen,but will the be able to dig this apart?  Would something like
chicken wire be better?  Another thing I'm trying to figure out is the
door.  Fidgit, our male loves to run through any door that opens.  The
house we are going to rent has the main entrance on the ground floor, so if
he is out and the door opens he could escape easily.  There is a screen
door and a storm door however.  Do most people just grow used to checking
for there fuzzy friends before opening the second door?  All of our
furniture is ferret friendly and I think we have discovered most the other
things that still need ferret proofed in the house.
 
okay next subject.  We adopted two females at the end of June and just
finished building them a new 3 story cage...soon to be five story
(possibly).  Since it is neutral territory they all get along fairly well.
At first each ferret claimed a floor.  The girls had been raised togther so
they didn't have a problem living together.  Our tiniest female, Ferrial,
picks on the male.  Ferrial is deaf, so scolding her from outside the cage
doesn't work well.  She instigates the arguments, she will start screaming
and run and tug on Fidgit's ear or neck.  She continues to cry while doing
this.  Fidgit tries to be nice, his new method of determent is to sit on
her head and roll on top of her.  He rarely uses his teeth on her.  How can
I get Ferrial's attention when she attempts to attack Fidgit.  She isn't
viscious, just annoying enough to bother Fidgit.
 
In the cage the girls have there sleeping bag which they usually share
while sleeping.  Fidgit has an old shirt of my husbands.  They also have a
neutral hammock and snuggly.  Fidgit loves his shirt but lately the girls
have kicked him out of it.  He tries to steal it and drag it to whatever
floor he is living on at the moment.  The girls will not let him use there
sleeping bag.  It seems unfair for Fidgit to not get something cozy to
sleep on.  They have only been co-habitating about 1.5 weeks.  Will they
eventually accept Fidgit and let him use the comfy beds as well, or should
I seperate them?  Fidgit will use the snuggly but he doesn't care for it.
The cage is carpeted as well on 2 floors and the floor with the food and
water has linoleum on it.  When they are out of the cage they get along
fine, they play nice and all.  But in the cage the girls seem to try to
find ways to pick on Fidgit and if I were Fidgit I would feel like I had no
fuzzy friends.  Fidgit is my husbands favorite ferret, could the girls
sense this?  Fidgit always goes for walks with us outside when the weather
permits.  Speaking of which, does anyone else have ferret that chases the
wheels on the stroller?  Fidgit thinks it is the best game ever...I however
find having to be super careful to not run over the ferret not quite as
fun.  It is cute to watch him chase it though.  He also likes to ride on
the canopy of the stroller and hang his head off so he can have a view
during his walk.  The girls are still adjusting to harnesses so they don't
go with us as often.  They do get to go outside and play in the yard
though.
 
Any advice on ferret proofing and getting the ferrets to share bedding
would be helpful.
 
Thanks,
Alicia, Skot, and Tasia
and the fuzzies....Fidgit, Ferrial and Charmaine.
[Posted in FML issue 2383]