*********************************************************************** *** O F F I C I A L C O N J U N C T I V I T I S D O C U M E N T *** *********************************************************************** Hello. New to the list. Nice to introduce myself to all of these wonderful ferret owners! I recently adopted my second Sable, a female comanion for my lonely male. The female and male are both "fixed" and descented, and both are current on their immunizations. Sammy (the male) was a terror at the start, but not half as bad as Esther (the new female). I adopted them from a shelter organization in Milwaukee called "Ferret Fanciers of Greater Milwaukee." Esther had been neglected by her previous owner and was given to the shelter through a long line of humane societies and such. I have a 3-level cage to protect them when I am not home and when I am sleeping. This is a necessity more than a willing act. I would prefer them to have run of the house, but Sammy is just a bit too prone to getting into trouble and... well, I'm sure you all know. The problem I am having is with Esther. She constantly scratches on the placemats I have on the lower level of the cage (poopin' room I like to call it). She threw an absolute fit last night, dumping over the litter box and chewing a hole through the plastic tube leading from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor. This was after I had had her out for several hours (4 or 5?) keeping her active the whole time, trying to tire her out so she wouldn't make so much noise and I could get some sleep. I eventually retired to the livingroom and slept on the couch, but I could hear her crashing and scratching in the cage until I finally fell asleep. I feel very guilty keeping her in the cage, but we do have a cat that Sammy is happy to play with but Esther is a bit small to handle the cat alone, along with inexperience, and I would be more afraid of her getting wounded by the cat if I let her out all night (she is small enough to fit underneath almost every door in my place). Well, I just feel awful (and tired). Has anyone had the problem of the ferret that just wouldn't go to sleep? Any home remedies, like music or anything? (note: there is enough bedding in that darn cage to make ME want to sleep in it! =) She is also well fed and knows where the water is) She just doesn't want to be in the cage at night. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I am at a loss as to what to do. Thank-you very kindly, *********************************************************************** *** Mark A. Pendl **Conjunctivitis Incorporated** [log in to unmask] *** *** http://www.uwm.edu/~spam *** *********************************************************************** [Posted in FML issue 1595]