Chris...In reponse to Eds posting and just a little tidbit that I thought
interesting, and maybe someone can shed some light for me.
 
First of all to ED....We have 2 kids (5 & 10) and love our ferret.
Patty (our ferrets name) just adores the children and will chase them
and try and grabs the toes or socks of their feet, of course the giggles
alone of the kids is enough to keep her.
 
THe only downers I find is that because we keep Patty in a cage all
day since no one is home when we let her out in the evenings, we have
to watch her constantly (which to me is a bit of a pain), mostly
because she will poop anywhere.  We try to keep paper down in the
corner of my sons room where she plays out mostly, but she doesnt
always go in the same place all the time.  (Thats my biggest gripe
with owning a ferret)...Is this because she is caged sometimes or
do other owners have the same experience???
 
[We do.  But perhaps we've been somewhat inconsistant in actively
training ours.]
 
THe other question which I think is interesting is My Mom bought
her ferret (Amy) the same day as us..Although I am not sure if the
litter was the same (since Patty is Sable and Amy is Light colored).
But what a difference in personality...Ours is so lovable and would
never nip or bite us, (in fact when she plays she puts her mouth
around our fingers but never bites down) But My moms all or a sudden
is a biter...When we took care of her for my Mom when I put my hand
to her she bit me hard (almost drew blood) and continues to bite
even if you don't play with her..Any suggestions on how to stop
this bad habit???   My Mom is a bit frantic...I'm reluctant to
watch her because of this, and my mom is considering getting another
home for her, but doesn't really want to.  Any help would be
appreciated.
 
[This started abruptly?  Has there been any change in food, housing or
handling?  Could she be in heat?  It might be a good time to see a vet...]
 
Laurie
                                                                          
[Posted in FML 0063]