>I love that low necked, flat headed glare I get every time I start >shampooing the ferret. There are so many messages in that look... all >of them making it very clear they're going to get even with you. Funny--ours just give us imploring looks--like, "Mom, I thought you loved me... please, please, please don't hurt me like this." It's heartbreaking, but we harden our hearts and scrub, clip, and otherwise groom away. One or two of the older ones, especially our personal ferrets as opposed to the rescues, do a wonderful look of resignation. No one glares, though. In regards to introducing two (or more) ferrets and hoping to keep blood from flying... well, we've found that the biggest problems are usually older female ferrets--any female over the age of 3 or so. The younger girls, especially under 10 months or so, and the boys, are generally pretty accepting ("Oh, a new friend. Will you play with me? Look, this is where I put the remote control"), while a few get somewhat dominant ("I'll be your friend if you'll do what I say"). Our older males get a little grouchy with the younguns, but not to the point of doing more than snapping if they come too close. There are, of course, exceptions to all this--these critters have intensely individual personalities. These are just tendencies I've noticed. Anyway, keeping these in mind, try to accept that your ferrets are going to need to work things out for themselves. An older dominant female will almost always "attack" a younger female, or another older one. Unless one seems genuinely scared or hurt, let them work it out. They're usually fine after a few days or at least weeks. Of course, if anyone's getting hurt or freaked out (we've had a problem recently with one dominant older girl and two three-month-olds who are terrified of her), try keeping them apart but near enough to see and smell each other. It can take time and effort for them to get used to each other, but they almost always do. (In our case, when the babies get a little bigger and realize they can fight back.) Ferrets almost never (emphasis on the almost) hurt each other to the point of needing veterinary care. Their behavior isn't all that different from the posturing of dogs--or people. Lastly, on caging ferrets: we have several cages. A couple of them actually close occasionally. Most of the time, the ferrets are confined to one room, which they seem to think of as a large cage with windows. Sometimes they get to wreck the house, just for fun. And I found a baby gate at Wal-mart for $20 that I laminated with packing tape... I originally made the mistake of using duct tape, but they can climb that. :-) As for the older ferrets not needing cages, we've had quite a few older ones take up residence in our bedroom. They sleep in the underwear drawer or wherever, and have plenty to eat and all that. They don't go far, and our presence at night usually seems to comfort them. While I agree that a cage is a basic necessity, we don't usually lock ours into them. Their room is as safe as a room can get, with blankets and tubes all over the floor. Fun place for us, too... Jen and the Crazy Business [Posted in FML issue 2802]