Bob Church wrote: >By the way, the bathing habits of my carpet-sharks is not because the smell >of ferret is offensive to me; I'm a mammalogist and have smelled far worse. and I laughed and laughed. Bob, do mammologists usually smell far worse than ferrets? :) I have only given my ferrets one bath each so far, but I do try to create situations that will encourage them to play in the water. I didn't spend several years teaching swimming for nothing! When I have a shower I take Maddy's favourite squeaky toys in with me, and I drape an old towel over the side of the bathtub so she'll be able to climb into the tub with me if she chooses. Then I'll squeak a toy, and sometimes a water-hating Madeline will come bounding into the shower to retrieve a treasure. By the time she's rescued ten toys -one by one - the poor darling is soaking wet, but she's still ready to play and will do it again if I get out and bring her toys back into the shower with me. Good game, but sometimes I forget to rinse the shampoo off until the water starts getting cold! I have also set up a ferret swimming pool in the kitchen. (I guess this fits in with the "how spoiled is your ferret" thread, doesn't it?) Our pool is the largest plastic container we could find, the kind that one would use for storing one's summer clothing in over the winter. The bottom of the pool, being plastic, is too slippery for ferret feet, so I put a shingle there for a bit of traction. Then I put in several bricks, so that there are "islands" of repose. The brick in the middle usually has a cheerio or a raisin on it, and the only way to get that treat is to get one's feet wet. :) This leads to some hilarious situations. Maddy doesn't *want* to get her feet wet, but she does like to drink from the water. The side of the pool is 8 1/2 inches high, so she reaches up, leans over, and hangs by her tummy (feet off the floor) to get to the water. This is a hoot to watch. Theo, my adorable 8-week old baby, will walk in the water over to Raisin Island (only a couple of steps) but he's sometimes a bit uncoordinated, which means that he occasionally falls in. Oops! Once he sat on a brick, pondering the water for quite a while, and then stuck his head completely under the water! It was so funny to see this wee small fuzzit with his face dripping wet. And then he did it right away again! Christine and an elegant, beautiful Madeline and a small, fuzzy, adorable Theodore. -- Christine Code We shall find peace. Vancouver, CANADA We shall hear the angels, [log in to unmask] We shall see the sky http://www2.portal.ca/~cmc Sparkling with diamonds. - Chekhov [Posted in FML issue 1349]