We recently got a ferret in the shelter that my boyfriend and I decided we liked so much we had to keep him. He's a mellow fellow, a white footed sable with a really snub nose, like a kit, although he's over two years old. Anyway Paczek (say Pawn-check) had been an only ferret his entire life and was, to put it mildly, unimpressed when he dicovered that there were more. I've integrated ferrets before and always managed to be successful, but this guy takes the cake. He hates the other ferrets near him but doesn't nip...he mopes. If they are out running around, Paczek climbs my leg and whines to me for about 10 minutes about how miserable he is. He walks around with his head down so he doesn't have to see them and if another ferret comes upon him suddenly (even in peace!) he shrieks and scoots away. The weirdest thing about him is that he doesn't know *how* to play...he never war dances, or dooks, or rolls over. He meanders over to a big dog cushion and there he stays until it's time to go back to the cage. Although he can now sleep comfortably in the same cage as several of his new brothers and sisters, he has an anxiety attack if anyone is in the hammock because he's scared to climb in unless it's empty. So I have to leave whatever I am doing to remove someone else from the hammock by promising a treat and letting Paczek have his way (now that's a spolied ferret!!) I guess he's such really people oriented, but I'm hoping he'll come around in time. About the whole CS debate...I am not an unbeliever in holistic medicine...I did a three week dose of Echiancea once and never had a cold for the next two years (which, for chronically sick me, is amazing). But I have heard some pretty negative stuff about CS and prolongued use in ferrets, so I steer clear. Plus, it's not available 'round these parts and most health food stores have never heard of it (except the one who had recently attended a symposium on it and said he would never ever import the stuff after what he heard. That just didn't seem positive to me, somehow) I've got a question for the doctors or other smart people: my oldest ferret BooBoo has a weird thing on his cheek that keeps flaring up and dissapearing again. It's about the size of the base of a whisker, but it gets a little bigger than that and develops a scab (because it's all bloody) then it goes away and comes back in say a few weeks. I did take him to the vet but it was during one of the almost healed periods and they couldn't tell what it was...bring him back when it's bigger, they said. It doesn't hurt him, and I regularly clean it out so it never gets infected, but I am cluesless as to what it is. Any suggestions?? Sheena * * * * * * * Ferrets & Friends Club & Rescue E-Mail: [log in to unmask] "dedicated to the preservation of the domestic ferret as a household pet", a no-kill, not-for-profit ferret facility. * * * * * * * For more information about the FFCR try our homepage: < http://www.geopages.com/Colosseum/1575 > * * * * * * * [Posted in FML issue 1371]