TO: [log in to unmask] FROM: Colleen Wei RE: Plastic gate I'd said: attached wooden strips against (my ferrets bedroom) door jamb making a vertical gulley through which I slide a 24"wide by 24"high (although one could make the dimensions whatever you want) clear (so they can see through it) sheet of hard plastic (with decals so they don't run into it) You said: NEAT!! I'll be doing that too! Where did you get the plastic? Hardware store? There's a place called "READ PLASTICS" near my neighborhood. If you don't have one near you, actually I don't even know if Read is a chain store or not, in the yellow pages, they're listed under the headings : "Plastics-rods, tubes, sheets, etc.-supply centers" And they're also listed as the local distributor for ATOHAAS NORTH AMERICA (whatever that stands for) "If it doesn't say Plexiglas ask again" (I guess that's their motto...?) I really like the fact that my guys and gals can be restricted to their room and yet not have the air flow stopped up by having to close their door. (Somehow heat doesn't reach closed up rooms, even when there's a vent in there...??) The only drawback is the plastic is not all that light. and have to be careful to keep a firm grip on it as I slide it and they're nearby - - if they trip me or make me drop it, it could be guillotine-ish if they happen to be in the wrong place. I'm working on the idea of attaching a handle to it. Maybe drill some holes in the plastic and attach a couple of cabinet pull handles to give a sure grip. Or maybe could get the plastic place to cut oval handle hole near the top so I could put my hand all the way through and around it rather than having to just grip it like a sheet of paper between my fingers. [I take it you're referring to a sheet of plexiglass plastic. If it's heavy enough that you worry about hurting the ferrets with it, I suspect that you have too thick a piece. The stuff is also _quite_ expensive relative to how much you get. Let me suggest 3/16" or 1/8" plexiglass. Since particularly the latter is likely to be rather floppy, I'd suggest a frame. Eg: buy lengths of 1x1 or so wooden trim, cut it to "frame" (on one or both sides of the edge) the sheet of plastic, then screw it (heads on the plastic side) onto the plastic. This gives you hand holds, reduces the guilotine effect, as well as something to put holes for retaining pins (or something) to keep the sheet in the door without falling. Sorry... Couldn't help it. I post too much to misc.consumers.house and rec.woodworking.... ;-) CRL] ---------------------------- U sd: they go about their business til I'm cooking dinner or in bed with a migraine..when they decide to jump on the headboard and find and DUMP my 7-Up right over my head... Yeah! Isn't it amazing how they seem to just KNOW when you're about to take a nap or open a box of stuff you don't want them getting into or just settling down to concentrate on something.. and lo & behold they appear, eyes wide, legs stretched high, nose butting at you...Personally I think they simply must have ESP. You know several times I've actually had this experience: One day I suddenly realize they haven't done something naughty in a while that they used to do on a daily basis (climb a certain chair to topple what's on the table, or dig at a certain plant, or well, you know). I simply have the thought. And the very next time they're up, they go do that very thing! The first time that happened I laughed at the coincidence. The second time, I must have looked like how a dog looks when he's baffled - stock still, head tilted to one side... The next time, I just shrugged and made up my mind not to think anymore!... ----------------------------------- RE: Food U said you'd tried Max Cat and they turned up their noses . I found the MaxCat to be too big, too hard for their little mouths to crunch - (difficult to imagine considering what we find when they decide to be "crunching " other things - the non-edible kinds of things) I had to give the barely opened bag of Maxcat to a friend with cats (cats wrote back thank you and added there were very few things too big for Their mouths...) I have fed mine all of the following - Pro Plan growth, Iams Kitten (more protein in the kitten formulas), Dad's regular, Max KITTEN, and Sci Diet growth. Also tried Ferret Chow. They seem to most like the Pro Plan. Then the Iams. Recently taken an affection towards Dad's (maybe its the doughnut shape...) Max Kitten isn't all that popular but they don't really shun it. They came to always choose the others over Sci Diet, altho at first it wasn't like that. AND THEY HATE FERRET CHOW...(can't say I blame them..that pellet shape in and of itself looks terribly unappetizing...) Currently their mixture is Proplan, Iams, Dad's and Maxkitten. (Although I found that the smaller girl ferret kept getting the food with the holes in the shape (Dad's and Max Kitten) caught in the roof of her mouth) So she gets a bowl of just Proplan and Iams Kitten.) I like to feed them a mixture. Just the idea of the monotony of shape or simgle nutrition of using only one. This way, maybe if one food lacks somehting the other will make up for it...? ----------------------------- Colleen Wei [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 0631]