Hey everyone. This might end up long and boring so feel free to just skim the "headings" and read what you like. FERRETS TAKING OVER my new chifforobe! It has 3 drawers, 2 wide shelves above the drawers, and on the left of that a door that opens to reveal 5 more shelves. Well, the 2 big shelves on top as well as 3 of the shelves inside the door have been "claimed" by the ferrets for their loot. I have to cram my clothes into 3 drawers! FILM CANISTERS AS TOYS? What do you think? I am kinda leaning toward "no" since the tops of the film canisters are a "chewy" rubbery sort of plastic. McBABY SOFT RATTLE Got one of these at Walmart for my boys. Merlin loves to snuggle with it because it's so soft, but I guess it didn't get McKyle's stamp of approval because he peed on it's head. TUB POOPING Isn't this the best revenge? "Hey mom, I don't like getting a bath, so I'm gonna poop in the water so you have to take me out!" I can' figure out if it's a fear-poop thing or if that warm water on the bladder & bowels just feels sooo nice.... MIDWEST FERRET PLAYPEN God, I was horrified to hear of one of these collapsing and breaking that poor ferret's vertebrae! (sp?) I hope the little fellow is doing better. Speaking of this cage, it is the one I have and I have been thinking lately too of carpeting the ramps and the 2 shelves. I don't know about the bottom floor, though, because my 2 poop-meisters think the litter box should stay poop-less at all times. I have a plan for attaching the carpet to the ramps, but I can't figure out how to do it for the 2 shelves. I don't really want to velcro or glue it on. Any suggestions? I SLEEP LIKE A "NEW MOM" / NIGHTMARES Up every hour (or more often on restless nights) at every little ferret noise! What fun. They sleep in our bedroom (except when my husband moves the cage into the study on those rare romantic nights) so I can hear every little whimper. Mine appear to have nightmares too. They twitch and whimper/cry and sometimes fall out of bed (hammock). I try to gently wake them, letting them smell me and feel my hands before I actually lift them up to cuddle. Works wonders! BTW, McKyle has been sleeping with his eyes half-open lately. This really creeps me out. Does anyone know anything about it? Oh yeah, and Merlin SNORES! Not kidding! SPAGHETTI FERRET Merlin loves "sketti" too! Well, mostly the sauce, I think. Quite a sight to see is his pudgy little albino body with face, mouth, and (guilty!) front paws stained with spaghetti sauce! And he just gives you that look: "Oh, mama, but this stuff is so good!" PADDINGTON BEAR / SNUGGLIES I thought the story about Paddington's walk was so cute! Where do you get a snuggly from? I would really appreciate if you could post your answer on the list! FERRET IN GUITAR Well, I have no experience with that but how about a ferret getting inside of my cello? BTW, they go wild if you play a **soft** note while they are inside! Gets them out in a jiffy! (But be careful not to deafen them!) THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Whoever is writing these, I think they are so cute! Always gets a smile from me. MF'S TOO-SMALL KITS IN PET STORES I wholeheartedly agree that MF sends out kits too young. I for one think they do it a lot more often than just occasionally. Does anyone have an *address* for them? Because believe me, I will write them a (polite but firm) few lines stating the things I've seen. If anyone has Marshall Farms' address please be kind enough to post it on the list! Thanks. TO MIKE RE. RAISINS AND FERRETONE How many raisins should you feed your ferret? As many as they want, even if they want them all day long, every day! (Sorry, my ferret made me write that. In truth I don't know the answer to your question. Not more than one every two days would be my guess. But then again, that's only a guess.) As far as the shelf life of ferretone goes, I would be careful. If there's an expiration date on the bottle, always heed that. However, I once got a bottle from the pet store that had a waxy, chunky substance floating at the bottom of the bottle, and the ferretone had a mildly bad smell. (I took it back to the pet store and showed it to them. They refunded my money and disposed of the other ferretone on the shelf which was from the same lot # and in the same condition.) I don't know if the age of that bottle of ferretone was actaully what was wrong with it or not, but it was definately bad. Just keep an eye out! SUKIE I hate to even mention this subject at the risk of starting another round of bickering, but here goes.... Finally a reasonable arguement about the whole declawing issue. Yes, we all have our own opinions, but consider Sukie Crandall's recent post. (Sorry, what's the issue #, BIG?) What she said is the reality, whether we like it or not. Maybe we should be careful where we direct our energy about this. OK! That's all I have for now, and I bet you're all glad. Happy Ferreting to everyone. Give those weasels an extra hug for all the joy they give you! --Rachelle, David, McKyle, & Merlin [Moderator's note: You probably mean Sukie's post in issue 2279. BIG] [Posted in FML issue 2286]