First of all, I just wish to say that my heart goes out to all of you who have lost your dear sweet fuzzies lately, and to those of you with ailing fuzzies as well. I've cried along with the things you've written here, and laughed along with your stories of the fun you had with your fuzzies. My prayers are with all of you. Next, Thank You to everyone who responded to my question about calloused footsies. Yes, I think I do need to do away with that corn cob litter stuff. (Besides- it's so messy! They fling it out of the cage and in every direction- it gets tracked all over the house and sticks to the carpet.) So I think I'll try newspaper. Do you shred it or lay down flat sheets? And if it's sheets, what do you do when they dig at it, rip it up, and tunnel under it? (...Which mine will surely do.) And is there any problems with the inks harming them in any way? I am also going to put some vaseline on the bottoms of those sweet feet. Here's a laugh- one person good-naturedly suggested I wrap their feet in gauze after applying vaseline, to keep them from licking it off-- Hahahaha! Yeah right! Then I would have slimy trails of gauze all over the ferret room, not to mention 2 mad ferrets! (Thanks, though, I know it was well intended! ;p) I am looking into getting one of those ferret snuggly things. (Anyone here got one? How do you like it?) Anyway, I called the # in the Ferret Snuggly ad to ask the lady about details of them.... When I asked her about sizes and told her I had 2 ferrets- nearly 4 & 5 lbs- she didn't believe me! "Are you sure?" she said? Yes, and I have the TF food bill to prove it! (By the way, does anyone else here include the cost of ferret food in their budget as a "Grocery" item?) Speaking of food... I've heard about raisins in the purse and food in the suitcase... but several times I have caught my sweet little McKyle carrying a mouthful of food upstairs to his stuffed puppy dog! What an angel! The French Ferret Mailing List??? Wooh-hooh! Wouldn't my boys love to get hold of that!!! Hubba Hubba! ;) And last but not least, I've got to share with you all my nicknames!! BTW, I love reading everyone else's nicknames too! OK- McKyle is my eldest ferret son's proper name. However, he is more frequently called Kyler, Kylie, Kyla-weasel, Kyla-weaze, Kyla-butt, and Bear-Face (he's a choc siamese). Merlin, the younger, albeit larger of the two, is a.k.a Merly, Burly Merly, Merla-butt, Merla-weasel, Merla-weaze, and Angel-Face (he's an albino). Collectively, they are The Monsters, Ferra-weasels, The Rascals, Rascal-Roos, Carpet Sharks, Diggin' Ferrets, Skinny Guineas (as in guinea pigs, our "code name", since we are undercover in this apt!), and Laundry Rats (which my husband adoringly terms them). ...We are currently struggling under the immense pressures of ferret math, and are leaning towards getting two little girls... does anyone think it strange that I have already picked out names for the two girls we might get???? The names, BTW, are Fanna and Rockabutt. (There's a story behind these, believe it or not!) Bye all, & Happy Ferreting! -Rachelle Ferret (stuck in a hooman body!) -McKyle ("Gimme a hug, puppy dog!") -Merlin ("French Ferrets- Ooh La La!") [Posted in FML issue 2408]