Hi everyone, just wanted to say that the past few days has seen some really, really good, useful posts and I enjoyed catching up on things. Thanks to everyone for thinking of my friend and her dear Minnie, who showed no symptoms of any illness until it was too late...so hug your fuzzies tonight, and remind them of just how precious they are in your life. They know how you feel...tonight, I let Finny out to play, and I've only been in his life for a week but damned if he didn't kiss me all over my face as if to say, "I like this place and you too!" before I could put him down. There has been some really good posts concerning MANY ferrets...I too am a ferret slut, but I too have learned through trial and error that, personally, if I have to have more than 2 cages, then some of the enjoyment is missing for me, and time spent with the ferrets is diminished. I used to let my ferrets free roam, and I do miss the "individual" attention that ferrets seem to give to you when they are out, all the time, and have their own daily routines set. But I also ruined the carpet in a rented house because of this, and lost a ferret when "friends" came over and left a window open. I have also lived through a fire, and know how quickly it can happen, and how disoriented you feel when it is happening. So my kids are out when I'm home, and they go to bed when we do, not that I wouldn't LOVE little sheet sharks in the night, but I could Never find them all if something happened....I have 8, and I HOPE to stay at this number....it gets harder to take them ALL out, to go traveling, to go to ferret shows, etc. without someone getting less attention, with each new ferret. But it's also REALLY hard to say NO to the little waif at the shelter that nobody wants, when you know you have a set-up at home that any ferret would find really cool....I don't think that there is anyone on this list with more than five ferrets who does not have at least one rescue or throw-away in their business! Liv, there is a place in Brookline on Boylston called Gill's that carries 8in1 Ultimate. Noelle, you could try to wean your little girl onto the new TF by slowly mixing the old and new...start with just a handful in a large container and week by week work up the amounts, it takes patience but it works with birds switching from seed to pellets so maybe that could help before you run out. What a picky little girl.....those newbies out there should take heed of this and mix foods early on so your ferrets don't get set in eating a particular brand..... Trish...what a interesting idea....I want to bring that up with my vets (with your permission) and see if maybe we could come up with a survey for our clients regarding various stress factors before bringing their ferrets in for vaccs, and will pay close attention to the ones that do have reactions and what we did with the ferrets beforehand...ie, how they handled the exam. Please e-mail me when you read this as I don't want to do it without talking to you more first on how Ed's reaction was. June, I was talking to the hubby tonight about our deaf girl, Whitty, and wondering...she doesn't know she's screaming so loud, but the other ferrets playing with her obviously DO! So why is it that they still continue playing with her....if it were humans, or even dogs for that matter, the other playmate would eventually stop playing with the obviously "distressed, screaming one" in short order. Does anyone else get my drift...why don't the other ferrets start to ignore her? Can they possibly comprehend her handicap? Hmmmmmmm. Sorry so long, but I just read for 3 hrs. straight to catch up...someones' got to pay!<VBG> Michele & the 8-is-enough PS-I once tried to introduce a ferret to my horse, and the ferret tried to go up his nose....where there's a tunnel, there's a way....... [Posted in FML issue 2815]