Gosh, I hate to send this anonymously, but I _am_ in California and as you read a couple of issues back, AB2497 did not pass the assembly, so CA is still a FFZ. Anyway, I've been reading the FML with interest the past few weeks, and thought I'd get off my butt and introduce myself, as well as posting some info that may be of help to some of you. My name is Marti and my family includes Randy (SO), Jessie (daughter), Hannah (technically a dog, but more like a rodent), X (rat), Tex (iguana), Darwin and his wives (African dwarf frogs), and of course, Nero (guatemalan banana rat, a.k.a. ferret). Nero (more commonly called "Weasel") migrated from Arizona just under two years ago. He's a silver mitt and he turns two in April. He's the best all-around pet I've ever owned, and I can't wait to find a companion for him (though I'm hesitant to compound our legal risk). Nero was a chronic nipper, especially when he got excited during play, and the following method cured him of his taste for human flesh: 1. Go down to your local pet store and pick up a bottle of BITTER APPLE. In case you're not familiar with it, it's commonly used on show dogs to keep them from licking/ biting their fur. It tastes mildly bitter to humans -- ferrets can't stand it. 2. Spray the Bitter Apple all over one hand, and play with your ferret with the other hand. When he starts biting the clean hand, give him a taste of the yucky one and say "No." or "No biting." Once in a while he forgets and gets ahold of my hand -- all I have to say is "No biting!" and he drops it like it was on fire. A couple of people have mentioned eating problems (one with regard to getting a pet to eat while his/her companion was not in the cage -- sorry, I can't locate the actual posting), and someone mentioned using Ferretone to get a sick weasel to drink water. Ferretone seems to work very well when mixed with food, too, especially canned stuff; it blends well and Nero scarfs it. I hope this stuff helps someone. MMc [Posted in FML issue 0776]