Hi all-- Last Sunday we visited a pet store and fell in love with a 9 wk old male dark sable kit. We brought him home today (Thursday), named him Mordacai and introduced him to Pepper (male 4# BEW) and Harley (female 35# dog) and it was all wonderful! We let Mordacai and Harley sniff each other through the carrier door and Harley wagged and wagged and wagged. (And we thought she'd be mad at us <g>) Then we woke up Pepper. Whoo-boy! He dived into the carrier with Mordacai and they sniffed and rolled and tumbled and sniffed some more. No hissing, no squeaking, just silent joy. Pepper: "Hey! Are you really here? Here to stay? Really? Cool!" Mordacai: "I'm here! I am! I had 7 siblings but one by one they left, but now I have you! I'm so happy to be here!" Poor Mordy had no chance to even check out the house on his own--Pepper was at his side, pouncing on him and rolling and dooking the whole time. They disappeared under the couch for almost a whole hour--silently getting to know one another. Pepper finally got exhausted and went to bed, so Mordy spent some time harassing Harley. He's never seen a dog before I don't think, so in his mind what could there possibly be to be afraid of? Good thing Harley is crazy about ferts! We've had Pepper since Sept, and he still avoids Harley as much as possible. Not Mordy. Oh no, he plants his little 9 wk old feet and stands his ground! Too cute. Mordy isn't too much smaller than Pepper, but Pepper sure weighs a whole lot more! Whew. Mordacai is a Marshall ferret, with a wonderful temperament and the longest, softest coat I've ever had the pleasure to touch. Well, almost had the pleasure. He was very cuddly at the store, but very wiggly since we got him home. I've never had a kit before, so this is a first. His energy is boundless. He will *not* go to sleep unless I lock him in the cage. And then he goes right to sleep without argument. I put him in sleepy Pepper's cage about an hour before I left for work (I wanted to be sure they wouldn't fight while I was gone) and they curled right up together as if they've *always* been cage mates. So now I have two ferrets who'd rather sleep on the floor than in the hammock. Weird. Mordy won't even try ferretone. Totally uninterested. Which stinks because his nails are long and sharp and really need to be clipped. He'll eat raisins, but only if he gets to pick then out of the can himself! He also was happy to accept a tiny bit of pumpkin pie from my boyfriend Dave. I'm a bit concerned that he hasn't eaten any food yet, but he was so busy exploring that perhaps he just didn't take the time. I'm going to listen for extra munching sounds during the night. He had Kay-Tee at the pet store, and I'd hate to have to go buy some of that crappy food just to get him to eat . . . but if that's what it takes I guess I can mix some of that with the better food. Pepper was so tired tonight that he curled up and went to sleep in my lap. That's an absolute first. When I had to get up I put him on Dave's chest, and he stayed asleep, another first! I don't think he's sick though--just worn out from all the excitement. He's got his little *bored ferret* routine down pat, and we really messed it up today, now didn't we? I have to talk about the pet store Mordacai came from. It's one of the only stores here that sells ferrets, it's privately owned, and they're terrific. The ferrets in the store have the three level cage, with litter box, food and water, sleeping sacks, a hammock, a cuddly tube, and lots of ferret safe toys. Ok, maybe not quite enough room for 8 ferts, but at least when people see the ferrets they see what kind of cage is best for them. No cedar chips or anything. And when you buy a ferret there, you get a nice discount if you buy that sort of cage at the same time. Also, they handle the kits like crazy and let them run around the store after hours. They didn't ask me questions or tell me much about ferrets, but I visit the store often and the owner knows I've been looking for a ferret to be Pepper's companion. When I wondered aloud how Mordy and Pepper would get along, she offered many of the tips I've seen here for introductions. That seems like a good sign. I just want to stress that there are some quality pet shops out there--look for the privately owned ones rather than the chains. This is a small store dealing mostly with birds like hand-fed Macaws, it's low-key and the owners are more than happy to answer questions and chat about the animals. We visited when they didn't have any ferrets to sell, and even then the owner was happy to get the cage they use out of storage so Dave could see how to make one like it. Very nice, knowledgable people. Ok, I've yakked enough--it's time for sleep for me, too. --Sherri (What the heck *is* a sugar glider?) --Pepper (man oh man, this kit is running my butt off. Time for a . . . . zzzzzzzzz.) --Mordacai (Wow, there's lots of playtime here, I may never sleep again!) --Harley (Another one? Well, ok, I can handle it--Pepper doesn't like to play with me, maybe Mordacai will. <wag, wag, wag> ) [Posted in FML issue 1797]