After much deliberation I have come to a sad acceptance with regards to my four wonderful fuzzies. In all honesty and fairness, I am just not able to provide the level of care that I feel they deserve. I have decided to try for better homes for my ferrets. I've had Jack about 1 1/2 years, Shawnee about 6 months. Zeppelin and Spaz about 3 months. I got Jack to keep me company and adopted the others as time went by. I thought that I could take good care of them. I've tried the best that I can. I love them all. BUT... my apartment is too small, my schedule is too full, my kids are too rough. The fuzzies spend a lot of time in their cage (which is not small, but not huge) simply because I'm not home much, except when the kids are visiting (I'm a part-time father). So, when the lil ones do get to come out, they get "played" with (hard). I try to keep an eye on them but I always seem to come across one or the other in the over-eager hands of one of my children. The ferrets can be in their cage all day and come out and pee and poop on the floor right next to a litter box. Clean that area and they move down the wall a couple of feet the next time. I've tried many, many of the tricks found here. I have four boxes (1 in the cage and 3 about the house), sometime they get used and sometimes not. I'm told that they are just upset with me. I don't see this situation getting better anytime soon. The ferrets are all healthy, although Shawnee has weak back legs and acts old ( he's only 4). No diseases or illnesses. They all have sweet dispositions, with the exception of an occasional nip from Spaz when she gets wound up by the kids. Someday, I hope to be in a place where I can dedicate a room or two for ferret use and start again. But until then, I need to find better situations for them. Of course, keeping them together would be ideal, but I realize this may not be possible. Spaz would do best in a home without young children. Jack and Zeppelin are VERY tolerant and playful. And Shawnee needs a home where he can be his quiet, "elderly" self. All four were very good at getting used to new ferrets. In fact, I was able to cage them together from day one that each came into the house. After an initial 1 hour supervised greeting time, they all were like family. I live in Southern Vermont and would be willing to drive up to an hour and a half in any direction to facilitate their transportation to a new home. I have two cages, 1 three-story and 1 two-story, 2 water bottles, food dishes, and litter pans. How this all gets divided up will be left to "first come,first served" Anyone interested in adopting any or all of these sweeties, should be experienced and be able to provide better than I. I can be reached at [log in to unmask] Please, only serious inquiries. Criticism and other such garbage will be promptly deleted with no effect on the situation. I'm only doing this out of fairness for the ferrets. [Posted in FML issue 2513]