Hello All, My heart and prayers are with any who are coping with the sickness or loss of a beloved weasel ! I just wanted to say hi, I am still a avid FMLer but like most I have to skim through, for lack of time during the day! The boys ( Louis and Buddy) are doing well, however there are some issues I would like to ask your opinion's on i possible..... Firstly, I would like to comment on this issues of harassment on the FML, I am not fully aware of what has been going on, I would like to say that this FML has been a complete life saver for me and has given me the opportunity to talk and make friends with many people who own, love and in a lot of cases have more knowledge than I do on our ferts. I hope all this gets rectified, in my opinion Bob is a very knowledge fert person and I would hate to lose him, like I said, I cannot say much for all this is new and was quite a shock to me. We are all here for the same reason ...cause we love these animals and want to give them the best life possible, how insults and judgments became regular occurrence is just plain ridiculous. I hope things work out. I have made the executive descion that I would jot down my questions that I would like to post and at the beginning of the week I would ask you all....this way you guys won't get sick of the "Narcotic Fert Mom", which is me! Like I have said I love my darlings to death, so of course I do worry and have questions. SO here you go, here are my thought/ questions and concerns in the life and times of my fert world...... I would like to start with a comment on Pandas/Blazes, my Louis is a panda and not a shock is deaf, he is my youngest and I call him my angel child, compared to his grumpy brother Binks ( Buddy). As for training Lou, he has been a dream, I would never say it was more difficult to train him due to his deafness. My expierence has been quite easy and rewarding...here are some ways that have worked well for me....Lou has never been a nipper, so we have never had to deal with that.......but he has learned to respond to hand gestures such as : Come here - I hold my hand out as if I were holding something in my hand, I will bend down so I am at eye level with him and will move or wave my fingers ( the opposite of a wave--- toward myself). As long as I have his attention, with this movement he has come to learn as "come here", Lou actually responds better than Binks and Binks can hear! The trick might be- he has associated the cup of my hand with a treat ( as a baby) so he would always come to investigate, now he just will always come, Just in case ( he thinks)..... it works! Scolding- Now I must not brag here but my Lou is an angel, the only time I have ever had to scold him was for missing the litter, when the litter is right beside him........Lou completely understands that he has done something wrong, I hold up my finger, and wave it back and forth ( with the other fingers in a fist), and still say NO, my expression along with the finger has made it clear "that" that is not allowed I wanted to be careful in choosing which hand gesture to use to scold him without him getting confused or thinking at times he was in trouble for no reason. This gesture is clear and is never made unless someone has been bold. Binks even knows the hand movements !!!! I have found with Louis being deaf, that I would never say it has been more of a challenge then Binks, Louis is more observant of your facial expressions and is always watching you, so it made it easier vs. Binks with the sonar ears who can't be bothered to even look at you. Thought I would add my ideas on that, it has worked well in my case! Now for my problem child- my little angel boy is being quite bold- Buddy. He is a great ferret would never lay a tooth on me or my friend Amber and a few others, however, he has gotten quite bad with people he does not know, I don't know what to do here, the last few times he has met people, he will bite to the point that he will draw blood. He does not run away either. Buddy has never been mistreated, I have had him since he was a kit. He is not a fearful fert, never will run away, I just don't know what to do with him, people can't pet him cause I am afraid he will bite, where ever he can, he will bite. The older he gets the worse he is,the last couple of times he has done it, I have not been there, so the next time there is someone new around, I will stand there, ready to scold him if he bites- my plan is to say no, bad and put him in his cage for a time out (not for long), he listens to me rather well, and knows when he is in trouble. Has anyone had this problem before?, he is not a mean ferret, in anyway, and has had so much attention and love, has never been hit or punished....gives me kisses all the time and is a big suck. I don't know what to do , it is hard cause he only does it with unfamiliar people and I have not been right there the last few times to catch him in the act so he knows he is bad.Also, it is difficult when you have someone there, what do you say, he bites can you be my guinny pig, so I can teach him that biting is bad. Any opinions on why he is doing this? and how to stop it! He is a good fert, really! Finally, here is my last comment, I have heard quite a bit of talk about Timmy's Tonic, can anyone tell me or show me where to find more info and what it actually is. Better go, before I yip too much! Once again, I hope all is well with everyone and this how situation gets solved. I have met so many wonderful people on this FML. Have a great week! Best Regards, Stacey and Her Precious Packages of Love [Posted in FML issue 3222]