I am home today trimming nails, cleaning ears, doing ferret wash, cleaning the house, giving soups and meds since 6:30 this morning. My babes have been up since then running around. It is almost noon. They have been thrown gently out of plastic bags, all had baths, squabbled in various boxes and bedding. And pooped in multiple spots that don't include all of their fresh clean litter boxes. I almost lost forever a ferret that got out last winter when i was going through a truly stressful time. If I asked that ferret if he wanted to live in a cage most of his life, or run around from room to room with his pals, I truly believe he would want free roam. If it meant a life where he could possibly get out and die...or live caged most of the time...it is my belief that he would say that he wanted to take a chance so he could enjoy his life. No matter what surgery I have had, or how ill or busy, I have never caged my ferrets most of the day unless I was on a vacation. I will not take one for more than 4 days because of them. I have a huge lovely cage from Martins. They sleep in there in the dark. The cage is buried under blankets. But mine do not sleep the 20 hours I hear so much about. My guys are up and bopping around a good 8 hours a day. They will be back up and racing around again later tonight. To a degree, I risk their lives. But I give them life, enrichment, and freedom to be the crazy run around kooks that they are. And they move their chaos from room to room with me when I am home. I just love that. [Posted in FML 5750]