Heather and I are proud mommies to 8 fuzzbutts. We also have 1 ferret angel, Ally, who we lost in January of 2002 to a sudden accident. Lets see, chronilogically: Abby was a Christmas present from Heather to me in 2000. I had been asking for one for awhile. Heather got her from an ad in the paper and kept her in her cage in a back hallway (that we never used) for 3 days until Christmas. She had me "discover" a series of clues that led me to her. Her whole name is Abigail von Girlie the Christmas Ferret, but Abby is a whole lot easier. ;) She is a silver something-or-other and currently is about 5 years old. Ally came next in April of 2001. She came from Petland. She never had the time of day for us, but she had a squeaky toy that she would respond to. She was a cinnamon-ish little girl, very tiny and always very busy adding to her hidey hole stashes. In September she had surgery to remove bladder stones, and 4 months later, she got stuck in the back of our stove and was electrocuted before we could pry the back off. One of the worst experiences of my life. Andre, or "Chunky" came next in June 2001--also from Petland. Our first blaze, our first male and our first deaf ferret. He is a couple months shy of being 3, and we havent yet been able to break him from his fondness of nibbling the backs of knees and the inside of elbows. Annie came in August 2001--she's the same age as Chunky. She came from Petland also. She is a blaze, also deaf. She has a fascination with things with rubber buttons, such as tv remote controls and earplugs. We are convinced that she is Chunky's sister. Farty Pants came in January 2002. We rescued him from a petstore called Animal House, where he was in very poor shape. He is a Dark Eyed White and is about 2 now. He is also deaf. When we first got him, he was nearly emaciated. He was so young he didnt have many teeth and the pet store people werent wetting the food for the kits, so he wasnt eating. You'd never know it now though, as he started making up for lost meals as soon as we brought him home, and he hasnt let up since. Sleepy was also in January 2002. He is a silver-ish boy, not sure of his age, but at least 5 or 6. We got him from Widgets Halfway House in Winter Haven, which is sadly no more now. We found his picture on the internet and fell in love immediately. Sleepy needed a lot of TLC. Someone had found him outside in the rain wandering around in Tampa. Thankfully the guy who found him knew of Widgets. Bob was a Valentines gift in 2002. He came from Petland also. He is a blaze, our only hearing blaze. I guess he is about 2 now. He has a beautiful full coat and tail and is probably one of our sweetest ferrets. Peanut came in May 2002, also from Widgets. He was abandoned by his family, along with two of his companions. His companions were adopted, but Peanut was in really bad shape. He almost died in July--stopped eating, lost weight. We hand fed him duck soup and he pulled through. He's a cinnamon-ish as well. He may be 3 or 4 or even older. And last week, we got Egan. She was living in a car with her family, in a cat carrier, eating nothing but cereal. She is a blaze, and both blind and deaf. We're still getting her transistioned, but she's doing well. Our "business" is already split into two groups because of personality clashes, lol, and I think we're going to eventually house her with Peanut and Sleepy. For right now, she is in a single cage. Its hard telling how old she is. Her teeth are atrocious, but her body is solid and she doesnt seem frail. She has been playing, mostly with Bob. Sorry for the long winded diatribe. :) Becky and Heather--Tampa Bay [Posted in FML issue 4388]