-,{@ Ours have their own bedroom. (In fact they have the biggest one -,{@ after the master bedroom.) Knowing they love to sleep behind -,{@ furniture, and hoping to attract them back to their own room to sleep, -,{@ we put a small couch in there, diagonally across one of the corners -,{@ so as to create a triangular sleep space behind it. We put lots of -,{@ towels and those quilted "pita pillows" back there. And it worked! NEAT!! I'm doing the same thing....so I can ask you for pointers! :D Mine have the house at this point...but I've had to keep them in the cage WAY too often. Because of narrow escapes. Nonni has the dryerhose thing licked. Or had I should say. So...:) My youngest is afraid to sleep alone so she's going back with Sarah, so the ferrets move in there. I only hope they will continue to use the litter pan. :/ -,{@ Also, since they usually use the litter shortly after awakening, -,{@ having them sleep in their own room makes it possible not to have a -,{@ litter in every corner of every level of the house. GOOD one..:) -,{@ 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) across their NEAT!! I'll be doing that too! Where did you get the plastic? Hardware store? ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ He said something like: to get close to them, and over and over -,{@ again to suffer from their loss is voluntarily choosing a painful way -,{@ of life; yet just to -,{@ know we brought joy, comfort and love into their lives, and for some of -,{@ them, they might not otherwise have known such, makes it worth it. :') I'm going to hang that one on my wall... :') ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ How did you teach Spud to play Hide-N-Seek? i.e. to come seek you or -,{@ for that matter to wait in one place while you hide...Mine would -,{@ either follow me or simply go about their own business if I'm not in -,{@ sight. Mine don't =care= where I am...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... This happened today..sheesh! Luckily I am pretty much over the headache now, thanks goodness! <G>..sheesh! Stinkers! ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: RE: Marshall Farms' Article....I don't know why it was posted.... perhaps I missed something. Anyway...I saw the last batch of babies to the pet store here (I am going alot now to see if I can help...even just to play with the poor little guys..they are so young...and they were very very young...they were the tiniest things! They were really thirsty, , REAl thirsty, they had come in a minute before I was there. So the store owner and her daughter were trying to hold two wide dishes of water, because the water bottle wasn't going to do it. I don't know if the flight was late...or what. They immediately fell fast asleep after drinking. I was told (correct me if I'm wrong) that they have two sets of..um...incisors <?> "fangs" at seven weeks. These guys did not. Do I have it backwards? Could be...Except that Pogo (new guy's name du Jour <G> has two sets. Anyway, I went back the next day and they seemed to be okay. I have to agree with one thing the vet said in the article, though I'm not educated in this area enough to really know...and by stating this I don't nessesarily agree with it (I sound like a politician! LOL!) BUT...how many pet owners would buy a ferret without knowing about heat cycles, and all. I know of two who didn't have a clue..yet they have ferrets. One has a male...and didn't know that they go into heat too. So...who knows. On that issue she could be right. But...I still don't like the idea of lowering a ferrets' standard of health to make it easier for a pet owner. I'd rather see education. I mean...this pet store is the same one that sells so much ferretone...if they can educate owners on the food and suppliments (Yes, I know the ferretone info is awful) then why can't they educate about proper care of ferrets, so that places like MF aren't 'neccesary'? I still like the idea of registering the new owners and calling for questions etc and all of that. Well...I dunno. My new guy is a MF, and I wasn't going to buy another....but the way I saw that one was...these poor little guys are ferrets too..so...I got him anyway. It was love at first sight... Anyway...still no club or shelter here. I'm reading up though. So maybe I'll feel confidenmt enough to start one. The store owner is getting to trust me now so I imagine he'd give my number out at the time of purchase too. I need to learn FAST! Also...once again...the ferrets, the new batch? They were gone in 3 days. There were 14 of them. This store alone has sold SO MANY! Where the heck are they going? What is becoming of them? :'( I fear the worst. This town isn't so big that you would never hear from people who have them. They need so much time and attention. I'm afraid that once people get over the newness (And the 'coolness';( ) of owning a ferret, they lose interest. The ferrets are kept in a small cage ...and even thinking this far makes me sick...and it makes me cry. Okay, I sound pessimistic. But ever since I got our first, last March....I have yet to find one single person who now owns a freet, as opposed to the very very many I have met who 'used' to have one. Sorry to go off like that...it's so frustrating...I wish I could afford to do a shelter, or at least help in some way...I'm reading...alot...fast...:) ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ Catching up on mail and read a note from Chris? about human milk... -,{@ Human milk isn't good for non-human babies (baboons and chimpanzees -,{@ might do okay but not much else). It is LOW in protein and high in -,{@ carbohydrates. Someone =has= to ask this..and since I'm available with my wierd sense of humor uh....okay...=where= are they getting this? I'm sorta serious. I could just see a couple ferret owners scoping out moms wheeling newborns in the park..."Scuse me...ma'am? We're with the ferret lovers pet club...and we were just wanting to know....would you be willing to er...don't take this wrong...it's just that we have a ferret in need of well...breast milk of the human variety.we have a jar here..if you could just...." :::THWAP!::: Purse over the head..AGGGHHH! POLICE!! Sheesh! Hehehehe!! Okay, on the serious side...my vet suggested KMR if I =needed= it. Sorry for the wierdness...I can't help it. <GG> ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ she was alright; she seemed to be in fine spirits, but I saw several of -,{@ her whiskers were singed. There was even one lying in the pumpkin that -,{@ had been singed right off! Oh well, I've often burned the hair on my LOL!!! On the serious side...I've had my ferrets try to go under the broiler while it's on! I don't know if they are that curious and figure it'll be okay because we keep them safe...do they even know danger? I don't know. Mine don't. I no longer use the oven if they are around. Too scary. Crazy things. I think the "curiousity kills the cat" was really a ferret in disguise. :( I can't wait to see the answer to your question...:/ ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: Chris.. -,{@ Somewhere, though, I'm sure she's frolicking in ferret heaven with -,{@ Toby and Slink and Hjalmar and Fritter and all the other carpet sharks -,{@ that gave us FML readers such joy before they left us. It's not much -,{@ consolation at such a time, but I hope it helps some. And my Cindi...and they are no doubt happy together now...I am still trying to get "Rainbow Bridge"... ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ we have good news from our camp - the new iams is a huge hit. i keep -,{@ two feeders, one with iams and one with science diet (both cat -,{@ formula) and the science diet hasn't been touched since the new iams -,{@ showed up. Cool! I'll try the Iams...this time I tried Max Cat. They said.."Yuk"..and are eating less. :( I was going to go back to Science Diet, but I'll try the Iams...now..the Max is harder, looks like cat food, where SD is softer...I wonder if that makes a difference? :/ ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ Luckily (?), it wasn't a vaccine reaction but just too much darn -,{@ stress. WHEW!! Scares the dickens out of you! No Doubt!!! ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: Chris, I'm really sorry to hear of your loss....Big hugs to you... _ , _ , _ , / ' ) / ' ) / ' ) / / /--/ . . _, _ /--/ . . _, _ /--/ . . _, _ ' / (_(_/_(_)_/_) / (_(_/_(_)_/_) / (_(_/_(_)_/_) o /| /| /| |/ |/ |/ .....and I wish I could do more...my condolences too... ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ use the litter box all the time. She does really good when shes out of -,{@ the cage, but in the cage she goes next to the box. Brittany and -,{@ Greyson were just the opposite. I'll never understand??? Wow...my new one doesn't bother to find a corner when he's out. My first male..figures. KIDDING! <running away quickly> Sounds almost like your new one is showing respect to the elder by not `using' her new freinds' spot. <G> Wild guess..have no idea if they'd really do that....I still have to teach my new one to use it when out of cage. Pepper, BTW did not work for me at all...:/ ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ Last night I finally found the source. It seems they had stolen a -,{@ pack of chewing gum out of the pockets of a pair of pants a long time -,{@ ago, and had hidden it under the dresser. They had been eating the -,{@ gum, and the foil wrappers along with it. They don't seem at all -,{@ sick, but is there anything I should do (besides take the gum away, -,{@ which I already did)? Just a word of warning, don't leave packs of -,{@ gum where weasels can get them. LOL!! I mean...I'm happy they are okay, I am laughing because I can just picture them chewing the gum! I'll bet they thought they'd really outwitted you! "Whatchit! Here comes the human...HIDE!" <chmop chomp> <g> I'll watch the gum, AND the foil! Thanks! Sheesh! Daisy.Lin.. And Three Women and a Baby....<g> [Posted in FML issue 0629]