Flea products Recently people have posted about flea bombs, collars, sprays and other toxic methods of flea control. Besides killing fleas, some of these over-the-counter products can be very harmful to your ferrets, your family, and you. In the past few years, there has been a revolution in flea control. If you haven't tried Advantage or Frontline, PLEASE ask your vet about one of these products. For the most part they are available through a vet, though they are MUCH LESS toxic than many of the traditional insecticides. I do not know which is better for ferrets; all I know is that our house (dog, cats, ferrets) used to have an unsolvable flea problem for much of the year (and I live in New England where we have cold winters). When I started to use Advantage on my dog, the problem disappeared--no fleas on the dog, in the house, on the cats, or on the ferrets. Two of the vets I know have said that the flea population has been decimated (hopefully the fleas aren't building up their immunity). DEW Biter To Carolyn and Wills: You mentioned that Wills is a dark-eyed white. He may be deaf. This might not be why he bites, but it may explain some of his behavior. If you know for sure he is deaf, you can change your behavior to accommodate him. It took me a long time to figure out that my DEW Merlin is deaf, but when I read the recent article in "Modern Ferret" it made sense. Here are some things to look for: does he startle easily when he sees you? A ferret with hearing knows you're coming a mile away; unless you are stomping through the house, your little deaf guy gets quite a surprise when you suddenly appear out of nowhere. Is he an incredibly heavy sleeper? This is normal to an extent, but Merlin is often still sleeping when the other guys are already up and playing in the house. Ferrets will squeal if their companions are playing too rough; deaf ferrets miss out on this signal to "cut it out, you're hurting me!" My personal feeling is that (especially since he's so young and seems to be having a hard time with life) a companion for him (one who doesn't bite) would make him feel better. There are a number of people on the fml who know a lot about deaf ferrets; perhaps they could comment. Best wishes! Ronnie Ralphie, Harry, Prince Charming and Merlin's mom :-) [Posted in FML issue 2080]