Hello All! I have been lingering for a while and haven't posted until now. I would like to introduce my very first girl ferret, Casey. She's about 5 months old and I love her dearly. She is on the small side, I think, at about 1.25 pounds. She eats Iams Kitten Food, although I am going to find Totally Ferret and start mixing the two. She seems healthy, is somewhat litter trained although she gets lazy sometimes. She has made significant improvement on biting, although she still has a long way to go. She bites everyone new and she bites my husband more than me. It seems less painful but we may be getting used to it. We live in Mass where, I guess they kill to test for rabies so I want to train her out of it completely just in case. I have a few questions. 1) My vet said ferrets catch colds from humans, which I know is true, but he also said they get pneumonia very easily so if she catches a cold I should bring her in. Is this true? I just want to be sure it's necessary in case it's his way of getting me to spend money in the clinic. 2) Is there any other way of giving heartworm medication to ferrets besides chopping up dog pills? And is it necessary at all? I know this has been discussed but I'm still not sure of the answer. I've heard dog pills don't have the medicine distributed evenly so chopping them up could be a problem. 3) Does anyone know of a great vet in the Boston area? I don't like the one I went to at the Pet Club. 4) Will I be able to get Casey to stop biting? I don't like punishing her physically, however, since other ferrets bite each other to express themselves, I don't mind imitating that. She's a tough cookie, though, so she can take it! I've tried time-out in her travel kennel, flicking her nose (doesn't phase her), pinching her ear (she just bites harder - she either hates it or thinks I'm playing rough), and scruffing her. She isn't stupid but very stubborn. She likes to bite hard while shaking her little head. It doesn't bother me that much anymore but I know I would rather have her stop. The funny thing is that she won't bite my fingers, just nibble on them gently during play. She will bite any other part of my body without thinking twice unless I say NO and sometimes she'll stop. But, not always. It's a bit frustrating because I've read over and over that ferrets don't bite and when people ask me if she bites, I have to say yes so they know to be careful, but I don't want people to think ferrets are viscous because she doesn't do it viscously and she's sweet otherwise (she licks ferretone off my nose!) Thank you. There was a post recently from Bryan Hall in which he mentioned wanting to give his ferrets away due to their depression. If I understand correctly, they play, but don't make the "dook, dook" noises. Well, Casey made noises when we first got her too, but now she only does it when she's in a new environment or with another ferret friend of hers. I honestly don't think she's depressed because she still attacks my leg to get me to play and she hides toys and explores everything. She seems happy to me. I think some ferrets are just more expressive than others. I just think it's sad if Bryan gives his ferrets away because of one person's opinion. Maybe others can help on this subject. I wish Casey would make her noises but she's "reserved" that way, I think. She does make a combo sucking/hiss noise which I don't get - I think she's usually hyped up when she does that. Bryan, please don't give up your ferrets until you're sure! - Adrienne and Casey [Posted in FML issue 1666]