Someone asked if the Angoras are different than our American ferrets. I have a pastel from Denmark, Pumkin (Lynda - see the spelling?) and I can tell you about his "ways". Pumkin is about 8 months old and very different. He is just as lovable but doesn't take anything off of any of the other ferrets and does pester those that want to be left alone. Since he's joined our little family I've seen stress behavior in a couple of the others. Pumkin will get into a bed that someone is sleeping in and if they squeak he just agitates them by rolling around on them, which makes them squeak more (maybe he thinks they are playing but it seems like a brother/sister pick-on-each other thing). I will take him into the other room several times before I resort to time-out. The time-out is the only tactic that seems to work with him. Scolding does not good, he just goes right back and bothers them again. Scruffing and NO get the same response. But after 10 minutes in the time-out cage he is very relaxed and behaved... till next time. Pumkin also gets upset easily with the others when they get mad at him. Being so young he sometimes doesn't know when to quit and when one of the others disciplines him he gets upset and gives twice as much back. Yesterday morning he was picking on Dusty and Dusty had enough so he tackled him and scruffed him. Pumkin did not take kindly to that and so the tussle began. I removed Pumkin to another area several times but he kept going back so I put him in time-out. When I let him out he went over to Dusty and Dusty was fed up so he snipped at him and Pumkin took off running down the hallway with Dusty hot on his heels. Pumpkin had learned the lesson.... that time. :-) Pumkin doesn't intend to be obnoxious at all, he just is young and with his higher energy and different temperment it causes a few skirmishes. He will eventually settle down. Pumkin is a little love. He adoringly follows me throughout the house whenever I'm home. When I stand still he is always standing up on my leg for me to pick him up and cuddle, hug, and kiss him. And of course as his ever faithful servant I do exactly as requested. :-) Someone asked what ECE is. ECE is viral (possibly Corona origin) and can cause severe diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration. ECE causes the lining of the intestines to be shed. Symptoms range from mild to severe, depending on several factors including the age and health of the ferret, underlying health conditions and the strain of virus the ferret was exposed to. Route of transmission is fecal/oral and can be transferred by carrying minute particles on your body (hands/hair, etc.), clothes or shoes or allowing your ferret contact with another, or the same area, that is infected with the virus. Duration of the virus runs from 3 days to 3+ months (other ailments may surface during this time such as ulcers or bacteria overgrowths) with the average being 3-6 weeks. During this time the ferret may appear to get better then have a relapse and some may seem as if they just want to die. Aggressive supportive care helped us pull them through at this stage. The consistency of the diarrhea comes in many forms including watery, cottage-cheesy, seedy, tacky and pudding. In some cases at one point, along with the diarrhea there will be a very foul smell. Worse than you can imagine. Colors range in the green, yellow, orange, and brown categories. One particular color that may be seen looks like antifreeze. Not all green diarrhea is ECE. Ferrets will occassionally have green diarrhea due to some type of GI upset. If the diarrhea persists more than one day, is profuse or accompanied by vomiting it is advisable to consult your veterinarian. In my experience,ferrets can be contagious (perhaps a carrier)for more than 1 yr 9 months. The hardest hit in our group were in the 2 yr age bracket. I've heard this from others as well. It seems the key to treatment of ECE is prompt, and sometimes aggressive, supportive care. There are several sites on the web containing ECE information. We also have a hand-out that I can email to you at your request. Hugs to all. tle [Posted in FML issue 2227]