Q: "My ferrets seem to always want to poop in front of the door or in door entrances. Why?" A: Because they can't reach your pillow. Being unable to actually read their minds, I can't speak to intent and so I can't accurately say "why." However, I think there is a reasonable explaination. The areas you have mentioned are high traffic areas; that is, there is a lot of foot traffic which not only brings in new odors, but also tends to wipe out the old ones. I have found from my own experiences that the high traffic doorways which the ferrets can't get past, such as the front door or the door to the kitchen, tend to be those which the ferrets love to use as latrines. This might mean the ferrets are seeing this barrier as a territorial limit to their "space," and are intent on marking it against outside intrusion, and redouble their efforts because the high foot traffic (and clean-up) tend to disrupt the olfactory signposts. On the other hand, perhaps they are just making a political statement that would make Voltaire proud. Q: "My ferrets are rather fat. What can I do to make them thinner?" A: Put them on a treadmill in front of an elephant. Fat ferrets are common in winter because they naturally put on weight to get them throught the lean times. OK, domesticated ferrets no longer have that worry, but their wild ancestors (polecats) still tend to starve to death during the late winter and early spring when prey species are in short supply. A couple of thousand years of domestication has not been able to reverse millions of years of evolution, and the carpet sharks tend to bloat up a bit each fall. However, on my travels I have noticed far too many ferrets suffering from a permanent obesity which in not directly linked to seasonal plumping. These ferrets are so obese that the fur on their bellies and between their hind legs rubs off as the skin slides across the floor. They have flacid muscles (poor muscle tone), and generally are not very active. These are fat ferrets, and, just like in humans, the obesity places them at risk for health problems that shorten their lives. Rather than telling you what to do, let me tell you how these poor beasties live. They are stuck in a small or cramped cage most of the time. They have a constant supply of food, which they can suck down for many reasons besides nutrition, including boredom. When they are released from the cage, it is for short periods of time only, and with very little human interaction--sort of a "you are out, so play and entertain the human" thing. They have no opportunity for aerobic exercise, which means they do not get to run or play while out, either because of a lack of a play partner, or a lack of opportunity. They eat high carbohydrate foods rather than the low carboyhdrate diet of their wild polecat ancestors. There are more reasons, but the bottom line is too many calories and too little exercise results in too much fat. You can increase the exercise, which is quite effective in ferrets. You can decrease the calories, which isn't as effective because many times the body will slow down the metabolism to in order to stave off "starvation," reducing its effectiveness. The best method is to increase exercise while slowly decreasing the amount of calories. One last comment. There is a myth that ferrets have to always have food to eat because of their high metabolisms. For healthy ferrets, this is pure ferret poo. In every study of every animal that was able to eat anytime they wanted too; that is, with full access to a full food dish, the animals had shorter lives, were fatter, and had higher incidences of certain cancers. Animals that were fed 2 or 3 times a day lived longer, had lower cancer rates, and were much healthier. It took me a while to wean the ferrets off their constant supply of food, but now most of my 20 only get food twice a day. Mind you, they eat a lot when they get their food, they still plump up during winter, but they are much leaner the rest of the time. They are also more active, with 2-3 hours of activity surrounding the feeding times. Sick ferrets are removed from the group and fed at more frequent intervals. The point is, in the wild, it would be hard to find any polecat having a constant supply of food, and since most ferrets sleep 8-12 hours at a stretch, the twice daily feeding is fine. Bob C and 20 Mo' Food Snarfin' Sofa Sharks [Posted in FML issue 2508]