I was reading the responses about the ferret smell and I just thought I'd mention my favorite little machine. It's a Bissell spot lifter. Great for when the ferts knock over you beverage or when they decided to potty outside the litterbox. It's cordless so you can take it anywhere and just a nifty little thing to have handy. I know it's helped me keep the carpet upstairs smelling good. I also have purchased a handheld vacume for cleaning up the little messes. (ferret food on the floor- litter of tne floor, my food on the floor... sigh... it never ends does it!) I was reading the water bottle advice and wondering what the best way to clean them is? My ferts have a water bowl upstairs that they use, but have two watter bottles in the cage. They spend so little time in the cage that sometimes one of us will take them out of the cage and forget to empty the water out of the bottles... several weeks later, when they finally return to the cage, I find I end up spending ages scrubbing the bottles just in case any bacteria might have invaded. (working in the medical field I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive about things like germs and icky stuff...) I'm thinkin go f just switching to bowls in the cage- but the thought scares me. last time I left them in the cage for 12 hours (how horrible of me - I know...LOL) and when I got home from work there was litter all over the cage, outside the cage and across the floor of the computer room. (must have been a compteition between the two to see who could knock it out further...) So I'm not sure I should try the bowl thing in there... I don't want to imagine the mess I'd have on my hands! I read in the latest FML that someone uses the liquid fabric softener for the ferts bedding. I've always been hesitant to use it (for no specific reason) I just didn't know if it was OK. So I just thought I'd double check- I use the liquid downey for us, just wanting to make sure it's ok for their stuff as well. About human food. one of mine LOVES PB&J. It's a very rare treat (only gets the teeniest piece though...little dime sized sandwich. It's a riot.) [Posted in FML issue 4064]