I just have to tell you all about the #004#new addition to our family!!! My first ferret, Casey, is a very small, dark, sable with an attitude. She is now about seven months old and is very special to me. She is pretty much entirely litterbox trained and she is a lot of fun to play with. She usually gets me to play by jumping on my leg and then laughing at me as she runs away backwards. About a month ago a friend of mine said she knew someone who had a brand new ferret which wasn't getting along with their cat and they wanted to sell it. At the time I was considering buying a ferret from a shelter. These people wanted $200 for the ferret and cage but I didn't need the cage. We settled on $100 for the ferret. Well, then I asked if they had gotten her the rest of her distemper vaccinations and they hadn't so they told my friend that I could have her for free!!!! I named her LouLou. She's about five months old. LouLou is a very mellow ferret. She and Casey hissed at each other a lot at first and I thought of separating them for the first night but it was difficult to arrange for two food and water dishes so I just caged them together and kept an eye on them. LouLou took over Casey's hammock and Casey tried to "push" her out! Eventually they settled down together. The next day Casey tried desparately to get LouLou to play with her but LouLou just wanted to explore the apartment. It took about a week before LouLou would actually play with Casey and about two or three weeks before she would play with me. She NEVER bites (unlike Casey). I didn't have time to litterbox train her because whenever I was home I was tired. But finally, I spent a whole day following her around and sticking her in the litterbox when she backed up somewhere and giving her ferretone. Now she's GREAT!!! I can't believe it. You should see the look of shock that's on my face every time she goes potty in the litterbox. (At first I had her trained that she got a treat when I put her in the litterbox, but she had no idea she was supposed to go potty there! Ha!) LouLou and Casey are best of friends. They play together and then curl up to sleep together in the closet, or under the nightstand, or on a shelf between some clothes. Wherever Casey sleeps, LouLou sleeps. It's so cute. [Now I just have to figure out how to get them to San Diego if I have to move there. I would die if something went wrong.] I was worried about introducing another ferret to Casey because she is such a little brat. I didn't do any of the things people recommend doing (bathing them, smearing ferretone on their necks etc). I just let them go at it and they were fine. The funny thing about these two is that they are sooo different. LouLou loves all the toys that I had bought for Casey which she ignores. She hides all my stuffed animals, and she has this one little stuffed doll with wooden hands and head which she carries around all the time. Casey likes to pull the phone off the hook and drag it across the room under the futon. LouLou could care less. And Casey taught LouLou how to get into the bathtub. Now whenever they hear the fan go on, or the hairdryer, they come running. LouLou also stays up longer than Casey, but she doesn't play as "hard" as Casey, so it makes sense. Thanks for all your advice everyone. I've really gotten some great ideas from you all. I cry everytime I hear about the sick fuzzies or those who have passed on. I treasure the time I have with my babies. - Adrienne, Casey, and LouLou [Posted in FML issue 1738]