> Re: Ferrets sharing water bottles > > Yep, mine do that all the time. They also used to do the `let's > annoy Mom with the water bottle' trick. 5-6 a.m., one decides she's bored > and gets up and drinks at the water bottle. And drinks, and drinks, and > drinks, and. . . so Mom finally wakes up at the repetitive noise, checks the > bottle to make sure it's working, and sure enough it is -- but guess who's > now standing by the door to her cage and no where near the water bottle. Is > this a hint? So finally I decided if they were going to be that persistent > they could go without the bottle 2-3 more hours while I finished my night's > sleep. They don't try that trick very often anymore. (Don't worry, I always > put it back as soon as I wake up, and they never act like they can't wait to > get at it like they're dying of thirst or anything.) Presumably, they > decided if nothing good was going to happen, they wouldn't bother. Good move > on their part. > I used to have the same problem with one of my hamsters, and I wound up trying the same solution. So she found that she could make even more of a racket by plucking at the bars of her cage with her teeth, like a guitar string. I finally just got a 'white noise' system (Sound Soother from Sharper Image) so I could sleep over the racket. The ferrets are only an occasional noise problem, though. I've found that singing them a lullabye (no joke) will often get them to quiet down and let me sleep. But I sing it while lying in bed so they don't get excited and think I'm coming to play with them. E.S. [Posted in FML issue 0714]