Small Animal Community / Critters Community / Ferrets

Photo of ferret with seven toes

Ferrets Moderator — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:25:35 GMT

A reliable source sent a photo of a ferret that has 7 toes, including the dewclaw. Anyone else ever see a ferret with extra toes?

Fun Ferret Info!

Ferrets Moderator — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:29:09 GMT

What fun ferret fact or quirk have you recently learned?

My new ferret

reversethecurse1313 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:26:03 GMT

A couple of days ago my family brought home our first ferret. It is a lot of fun but right now it just seems interested in exploring the house and sniffing everything. Is this normal and will she want to play more once she is situated in her new home? Thank you.

Reports about Marshalls Ferrets

monksmom — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:04:55 GMT

Hello Ferret parents out there- My vet just told me about a report that just came out- 73% of Marshalls Ferrets are getting ill. I can't find anythingbut I d from my own personal experience that yes, they do get ill- each of mine has had a problem, some bigger than others, but no matter what the situation, they are a FORTUNE to treat. It's too bad too because I do a bit of rescue and I can't take in as many as I'd like because I don't have the funds to treat them all. Has anyone heard anything about this?? Has PETA stepped in at all? Any news would be appreciated. Thank you, Jodi

Help name black-footed ferrets!

Ferrets Moderator — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:29:53 GMT

I am cross posting a message, with permission from the author, Linda Iroff.

=====================================

I'm pleased to announce that the ferret community again has the
opportunity to name the kits on the Smithsonian National Zoo's black-
footed ferret web cam!
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/NorthAmerica/default.cfm?cam=BFF

The 6 kits (3 males, 3 females) born to Cyan and Ledo on June 20,
2009, need names, and Dr. JoGayle Howard, Reproductive Specialist for
the Smithsonian, has agreed to allow us to name them after shades of
blue in return for a suitable donation!

Possible names are:
Teal
Aqua
Baby
Powder
Sky
Navy
Marine
Sapphire
Denim
Indigo
Azure
Cobalt
Turquoise

You can vote with your donation! Put all your money on one name, or
spread it around for your top 6 names. Or just donate with no
particular favorite. The top 6 vote getters will become the names for
Cyan's kits!

Four randomly selected donors will win prizes: a 20" stuffed black-footed
ferret and 3 8x10 color BFF photos.

To make a tax deductible donation, please send a check made out to
"Smithsonian Institution" with "black-footed ferret program" in the
notes field and send to me at: Linda Iroff, 46180 Butternut Ridge
Road, Oberlin OH 44074. Make sure to include a note with how much of
your donation you want to go to each name!

If you want to make a donation via Paypal, please send to
linda.iroff@oberlin.edu

Again, please note which name(s) you want to vote for. These amounts will NOT
be tax deductible as I am not a 501c3 charity! I will make an accounting
of all funds sent to my paypal account available on request (with names
redacted) at the end of the donation period, and the total amount will be
sent to the Smithsonian along with any checks.

To sweeten the deal, JoGayle will provide three 8x10 color glossy
photos of adorable black-footed ferret kits, adults or families as
preferred. Three names will be drawn at random from all donors to
receive the photos.

The deadline for me to RECEIVE payment is Saturday, September 26. The following weekend
I will be volunteering at the Autumn Conservation Festival at the Smithsonian National Zoo's
Conservation and Research Center, and I will present the checks to JoGayle then.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ActivitiesAndEvents/Celebrations/ACF/default.cfm

The kits will be leaving the Zoo around the middle of October for
distribution to other black-footed ferret recovery programs or to be
released in the wild. It will be a few weeks yet before distribution
lists are determined.

Linda

*Cross posting in entirety permitted and encouraged!*

Ferret potty training?

crewof4 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:40:19 GMT

i have 4 ferrets originally i had 1 and then i adopted 3 more. Mut my first ferret was potty trained and when i adopted the other ferrets the previous owners told me they also were potty trained and as it turns out they were not and now Mut is not using his litter box along with the others i have tried catching them and putting them into the litter box when they are about to go i have tried paper training to also the clicker they all wont seem to listen i need some advice i dont know what to do...

Ferrets?? Illegal in California??

BrownEyedGirl — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:13:37 GMT

So I heard that Ferrets are illegal in California I don't have one but I think that is terrible!! I love ferrets though!!! Does anyone know why???
Help me please!!!

Questions: 2 sick ferrets

Lilac13 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:24:10 GMT

Hi. My name is Marie. I have 4 ferrets (Aurora, Vladimir, Thor and Jack).

Aurora is my oldest. She is 6 years old. I know she's getting up there in age and that comes with problems. The last 2 months she has been having lathargy spells and she pants and drools. Nutra-cal and honey will pull her out after a while. My dr gave my liquid predizone for her for when she has these spells. He has done 2 blood tests on her. The first 1 showed her blood sugars were very very low. The second 1 showed her normal. Both tests were taken after 1 of her spells. He's not sure is she's hypoglycimic (if I spelled that right) or if it's something else. He's leaning towards the hypoglyicimia being that she responds to the honey.

Vladimir is my youngest. He's 1 1/2 years old. In the last month he dropped a lot of weight. So off to the vet we go. We did a stool sample to see if I may have accidently brought home paricites (I work at an animal shelter) but that came back negative. So back we go. He lost more weight in just 2 weeks. The dr. did a urin sample and a blood test. The urin looked good, the blood test he said had something in it that was kind of high, which usually means paracites or allergies. Being that we already ruled out paracites, he thinks it's allergies. He said to put him on ferretvite and liquid child's benadril. Which he's been on since friday. He goes back in 2 weeks to weigh in to see if that is working. I have been noticing that he's been sleeping a bit more. And I noticed that before I started the benadril.

I was basicly just wondering if anyone has encountered an of these symptoms and what you think it may be. Also Vladimir is not decented and he seems to be poofing more and for no reasson.

Any sugestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

What makes your ferret great?

Ferrets Moderator — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:10:58 GMT

All pet owners think their pet is great, so what makes your ferret or ferrets a great pet? Go ahead, brag!

Strangest Item Your Ferret Stole

Ferrets Moderator — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:49:42 GMT

Ferret owners expect to have some of their possessions occasionally repositioned or outright taken by their ferret. So, what's the strangest item you ever found in your ferret's stash?

PLEASE HELP MY MONSTER, SICK FERRET!!!

Monster's mom — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:41:21 GMT

My 4 year old ferret is not well he hasn't been eating his hard Marshall food for a least a week. We have been spoon feeding him. He is dehydrated and has parcel poops. We took him to the vet and all the cared about was how much money we had available, since my ex messed up my credit I don't have credit cards, however we had $300 to work with at that moment. Long story short; does any one know of a vet that will work with you with payment plans if surgery is necessary!!These people said they would put him down for free but weren't will to even see if he had a blockage. They didn't even try to hydrate him and I had the money for that. PLEASE HELP I'M IN TOMS RIVER NJ AND WILL DRIVE FOR A REAL DOCTOR!!! Thanks.

My Kimet passed away, need support

Kismetsmom — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:01:02 GMT

Hi I found this website and since nobody understands what I'm going through I thought I might post here. Last Friday I came home and went to let my ferret Kismet out of his cage and he had died while I was at work. That morning he had been happy and playing. I was in complete shock so I took him to my vet and they examined him and said his spleen was extremely lage and they thought he may have had a small tumor that ruptured. A month ago he wasn't feeling good and they said his spleen was a little large but sometimes that's common. He's been eating and playing as normal. I felt so bad because I wasn't there when he passed but they said it happened so fast there wasn't anything I could've done. This pain is more intense than when I lost a dog or cat and nobody seems to understand because I don't no anyone else who has ferrets. Kismet was my 2nd ferret. My other ferret passed away from adrenal disease. I miss his dancing,cuddling and his little kisses. Thanks for letting me post.

Ferrets Magazine is Going Online!

critters-moderator — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:15:57 GMT

The March/April 2008 issue of Ferrets will soon reach subscribers. It is the final print issue of Ferrets. We're transitioning the magazine to online beginning in April when we launch www.SmallAnimalChannel.com. The new Ferrets magazine will be located at www.FerretsMagazine.com, and it will be free. We're still going to be an information resource about ferrets, only in a different format.

Our plan is to offer new articles and columns every month, weekly news updates, polls, contests and more. It will be more interactive and readers will get more frequent updates than with our bimonthly print issue -- and we'll be saving trees by going digital.

Subscribers will soon receive a letter/postcard from our Consumer Marketing Department that will detail what choices they have concerning the balance of their subscription.

Our annual ferret magazine, Ferrets USA, will continue to be printed and new issues are available in stores every November.

Please note that the current look at SmallAnimalChannel.com and FerretsMagazine.com will all change in April. For an idea of how it will look, please visit our other BowTie websites: www.DogChannel.com, www.CatChannel.com, www.ReptileChannel.com, www.BirdChannel.com, www.HorseChannel.com.

- Critters Moderator

Most Important To Ferret Health & Happiness

Ferrets Moderator — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:23:36 GMT

What do you do to make your ferret's life healthier and happier? Which of the following do you consider most important to your ferret's health and happiness? A ferret-specific diet? Playtime? Enrichment? Vaccinations? Annual vet visits? Learning more about ferrets? Something else?

Looking for Vet & boarding......Miami

Nippy's grandma — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:51:28 GMT

Hey, first time here! Looking for a ferret vet (reasonably priced) that also does boarding in Miami.
If anyone has suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks

Female Ferret

DaniRox247 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:32:34 GMT

ok my friend told me that i should get a boy ferret because once the female ones go into heat they will die if they dont mate. is this true?

PLEASE HELP ME! GROWTH ON EAR!

Cocochanel — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:07:53 GMT

My ferret, Coco Chanel, has a growth behind her left ear I just noticed tonight. I noticed some discoloration of the skin a while back, but did not think much of it. I am so worried now, thinking it might be cancer. She is around 6 years old. I am seeing the vet on Thursday, but I just need some idea of what I'm dealing with. Please help me & Coco. Here are some pictures I just took of her ear.

boil/growth on ferret

m1ss jenn1fer — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:19:39 GMT

hi i've got a question my 5 yr old female ferret is getting reocurring boil like things right next to her sholder blade i've poped it several times and a clear liquid comes out and i clean it w/ alcohol and everything and it basically deflates but it comes back everytime in the same spot does anyone know why or what it is? help

Help, my ferret is yellow!!!

toxin9 — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:11:33 GMT

My ferret, Matches, is a handsome 3 1/2 year old fuzzy, but he has yellow fur! i have given him several baths, used several shampoos, but it is still yellow. He also has fleas, and i have been trying to get rid of them, but it doesnt work. if you have any good products i could try, please let me know!

Caring for a ferret with a dislocated front leg

stacijohnson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:13:11 GMT

hello, i'm posting this in need of some desperate advice. my baby ferret (8 weeks old) recently dislocated his shoulder, i took him to the vet and had him treated and the vet put a sling on his arm leaving him only one free arm, obviously making it difficult to use the the litter box, walk, and just about anything else. i was wondering from one ferret lover to another if you knew of any tips to make his recovery a little easier. i tried to ask my vet, but he's not so much into ferrets. i think only someone else who is a ferret owner knows what it would be like to see their own like this. ive searched every where for information and cant find anything. im just looking for a way to make things a little easier on him. thank you for your time!

Potential new owner - What's the best sex combination for a ferret group

rainbowlisx — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:55:43 GMT

Hi
I'm getting some ferrets soon but I'm not sure what combination to get?! I know about the females needing to be mated when in season so I'm looking for the best and cheapest option. I'm going to get 2 so wondered what you recommended?
If I have two males will I have to get them castrated? or can i keep an entire female and vasectomise the male? If the females are spayed do they still need to be mated? Ideally I'm like a male & female. What do you think?

Please help....my head hurts!

Advice for Ferrets and a Cat

4fursn1yrold — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:20:14 GMT

Hello I have 4 little fur babies that range in age from almost 3yrs to almost 6mo old. I also have a cat that is just turned 1 today yea happy birthday Jack. Sorry back to the post. Ok We have never really introduced the cat with the Ferrets for fear that the cat might hurt one badly or terminally. Is there any way to get the cat accustomed to the fur balls in a way that might help keep them safe? The cat tries to play gently with them through the cage but sometimes when we just have one fur ball out and it starts dancing around all excited the cat gets that look in his eyes like he would when he is going to pounce something. I might add we have only had the cat for about 6mo. We adopted him from a shelter when he was still pretty young. HELP PLEASE

Ferrets....

anoellak — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:12:28 GMT

I don't honestly know how much time people spend on training their ferrets. I don't spend much time. All I really care about is her not chewing wires, pooping on the rugs, and biting. I never spent a whole lot of time teaching her not to do theses things she just doesn't do it.

Maybe I picked a good one. I don't know. It just seems like a lot of people have these little issues.

She gets a lot of out time. When I wake up in the morning she knows its time to get up... I let her wake up go make my coffee and open her cage. I always pick her up out of her cage and snuggle with her, tell her good morning. Then I just let her go free. I don't really feel the need to really watch her because she doesn't go far from me. I might throw her ball across the room but I really don't play with her to much. She just seems pretty content playing on her own on the floor. She might get up on the bed and play under the covers and watch me type on the computer. When she gets tired and sick of playing she either goes back in her cage or curls behind me in the chair.

She comes out in the morning for as long as she wants and comes out at night before I go to bed for about a hour or so. She is usually only good for a hour before she gets tired from playing.

Once a month she gets her bath and nails clipped which she loves getting her nails clipped because that means she gets special treats. The bath she isn't to crazy about so I just make it quick. When its hot out she gets to have a little vitamin water which she loves, and gets to have a freeze pop. Other than that I always just let her be and she is fine.

ferret scratching on edges of water dish

mikenoly — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:20:39 GMT

one of our 4 girls has developed the habit of scratching around the rim of her water dish before drinking,why, i dont know, none of the others do this and i was just wondering if anyone else has ever noticed this behavior before?

Unsupportive people... Plus your ferret pet peeves.

MinxyMordacious — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:38:29 GMT

I have a pet peeve with people who constantly put my fuzzy down! My boyfriend says, "she's just a ferret!" "She smells!" "She's kinda cute I guess for a rodent!" My best friend pretty much said the same things. Asked if she was retarded and then decided she didn't like her that much. I said nothing to her but to my boyfriend. Complete different story.

I ended up chewing him out and I made a few great points. Like for example: "You cuddle with the dog and she rolls in poop!" Or, "she licks her butt and you still let her lick your face. How is that any different?" He got the picture and has been much better but my point is that I'm sick and tired of people dissing fuzzies! I mean, WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?!

Ok SACM's I wanna hear your pet peeves!

Need ANY advice on Pooping Ferret...

dbarnes — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:55:11 GMT

I am hoping some one can offer advice on how I can deter my ferret, Fannie-Mae, from getting underneath my sofa and loveseat in one particular corner, and pooping!!

Although I flip them over and clean the area, I do this daily because I let her out to run around and play for a few hours but instead of going to her litterbox on her cage, she uses underneath the sofa and loveseat.

Some one suggested a litterbox in those areas but I dont want her to use these areas at all, and a litterbox would only promote the area that much further to her.

is there any sprays or mats or any thing at all I could use??

Thank You all so much.

ferrets sneezing

white_tiger_2 — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:55:06 GMT

My ferrets start to sneeze and can't stop. Hitting their heads on the bottom of the cage and on the levels too. What can i do to help them?

The Guide To Double Lifespan Our Ferret!!!!!

knickth — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:13:44 GMT

I have found a great book which guide you to Double Lifespan my ferret, and make my ferret the happinest animal in the world

I think every ferret lover should to have one

visit HERE: http://www.squidoo.com/ferret-pet-guide

Ferret Supplies - Great online pet store!

knickth — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:06:28 GMT

I've just buy Ferret Supplies from a very good UK online store and I would like to share with you as a ferret lover . My products sent to me with good quality and on time. This site is the largest online pet store for UK

Let's visit here Ferret Supplies UK

Ferret Care Guide for YOU - Great information!

knickth — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:49:28 GMT

I've just found a very good site to share with you as a ferret lover

Let's visit here Ferret Care Guide

Ferret Liver Problems

UTCouple — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:06:44 GMT

Hey,

My fiancée and I have had two male ferrets that came from the same bunch, perhaps even the same litter, for about 4 years now. They are both Marshall ferrets and were born around Nov 7^th, 2004. Our two ferrets are Mousey and Snowball. Both have had relatively good health so far. Last fall Mousey needed to get his left adrenal gland removed, and has been doing well since with some sling symptoms returning recently. However the main reason for this post is Snowball, he is not doing well at the moment and I would like to hear some input from other who might have been in the same situation. A quick background of Snowball’s problem: One time when cleaning the cage about a month ago where they are kept together, we thought we saw a small bit of what looked like blood in one of the stools, so we separated them and watched them closely but noticed no further problems. Then a few weeks ago we noticed Snowball seemed to be having loose but not liquid stool, we didn’t really think much of it. Things again seemed to return to normal. Then on last Wed night Snowball must have thrown up a few times, but it was not the normal colored tan vomit as we have seen in the past with our ferrets, it was very dark, almost black and seemed to be quite thick. Also it seemed that he had lost some weight over the last week or two at an abnormal rate. This concerned us greatly so we made an appointment for the vet. As a side note, this last winter, Snowball never really put on the wait like Mousey did for the winter or really get a thicker winter coat, we thought this had more to do with Mousey’s recent surgery and that he was one that was more abnormal. The next day when cleaning his cage he went to the bathroom in the little portable cage and his stool was almost completely liquid and berry red in color, he had no colored treats or anything recently so I am assuming that it was a fair bit of blood. Aside from these symptoms, his behavior has remained completely normal.

We went for the appointment at the vet the next day. Immediately the vet saw that he looked jaundiced, Snowball has a Champagne coat and we have incandescent lighting so I really never noticed what the vet showed me as far as his mucous membranes being more yellow than pink, it was quite apparent in the fluorescent lighting. The vet immediately suspected that there are likely problems with the liver and that the yellow color is from a build up of bilirubins in the blood which gives the yellow appearance. Also upon palpating the liver he felt a small mass in or near the liver, though he did not say that it was enlarged or anything like that. It was decided to check Snowball in for the night and run a complete blood workup and xrays. The results the next day were not great unfortunately. They are attached, but the main areas of concern were the ALT (alanine aminotransferase) which was greater than the machine could read, so above 2000, when the normal range is 82-289. Also the TBIL (Total Bilirubins) was at 3.9 with the normal values being 0.0-0.8. At this point the Vet suggested keeping him on fluids over the weekend to see if things might improve on their own, and also put Snowball on antibiotics as a precautionary measure. He felt that the best course of action would be to do an ultrasound guided liver biopsy to see if the problem with the liver could be cancer. He also mentioned another possible problem could be a clogging of the bile duct. I have spent quite a few hours searching the net looking for info on ferret liver problems, but have not found much information at all. Clearly the biopsy will give a more definitive answer as to the problem but I was hoping that someone might be able to interpret the bloodwork more to get some more information out of it. I was wondering if any of you might have had similar problems with your ferrets, and might be able to shed some light on the situation as to some possible causes and treatments. Any information would be much appreciated.

Here are the lab results:

In text format:
"*" Indicates an abnormality

Comprehensive Diagnostic
ALB 2.4 2.3-4.8 G/DL
ALP 534 31-888 U/L
*ALT >2000 82-289 U/L
AMY 12 8-93 U/L
*TBIL 3.9 0.0-0.8 MG/DL
BUN 28 12-43 MG/DL
*CA 7.7 8.6-10.5 MG/DL
PHOS 4.7 3.0-13.8 MG/DL
CRE 0.8 0.3-1.5 MG/DL
GLU 82 59-214 MG/DL
NA+ 141 140-159 MMOL/L
K+ 4.3 4.1-6.0 MMOL/L
*TP 3.9 4.6-8.1 G/DL
GLOB 1.5 1.3-4.1 G/DL

WBC 2.62 2-10
*LYM 0.14 0.4-6.5
MON 0.34 0.1-0.7
NEU 2.15 0.8-4.5
*LY% 5.2 27-80
*MO% 12.8 0-10
*NE% 82.0 16-70
*RBC 3.87 7.8-13
*HGB 62 124-187
*HCT 18.63 36-56
*MCV 48 40-48
MCH 16.1 13.5-16.5
MCHC 335 321-355
RDWc 19.4
PLT 382 96-776
PCT 0.31
MPV 8.2
PDWc 36.6

And a few links about ferret blood work that I found:

http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/part5.html

http://www.barkandwag.com/Ferrets.htm

http://miamiferret.org/physiology.htm

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/pets/ferret-faq/part5/section-16.html

Again any insight would be welcomed,

Thanks,

UTCouple

Problem Biter Ferret: Desperately Looking for Advice

BridgeChan — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:40:59 GMT

Hello to all that read this.

My name is Bridget and I've been a ferret owner for about two years. From Christmas of 2006 to Jan 22nd 2008, I owned a little boy named Mr. J who sadly passed away from cancer. Shortly before his passing, I had purchased a female kit to be his cage mate, we call her Harle. After Mr. J's passing, a co-worker of my husband's had received a female albino ferret as a surprise gift from her fiance since her original ferret sadly escaped her home and was never seen again. This co-worker decided to not keep her due to an overwhelming amount of animals she already had, plus she had 3 children to tend to. We brought Harle over to meet the potential cage mate and they hit it off beautifully. As the two fuzzies were getting along, my husband and I asked the woman as many questions as we could about the albino. The information we got was that her fiance was told by the clerk that the ferret had been in the pet store for 6-7 months and was kinda lazy (She was a tad over weight when we got her), but other than that, she told us nothing of problem biting. So this was the start of our life with this beautiful critter, we call her Nora.

When we got Nora home, she was quite inquisitive and overall adventurous of her new surroundings. I got in the floor with her and Harle, tossing a little rattle ball around and letting them chase it. I picked her up after a while of playing and cradled her in my arms to give her support of her whole body, she flipped over on her stomach and started licking near the bend of my elbow. Before I knew it, I had a ferret accessory on that part of my arm. Mr. J and Harle were sweet little fuzzies, so I had never had this happen before. I yelped and hoisted her up with my free hand under her armpits as she let go. I shouted at her "No! Don't bite!" and sat her down on the carpet. About a week went by and I noticed this form of treatment was certainly not working, so I purchased the "Ferrets for Dummies: Version 2" from my local bookstore. From my readings, I started scruffing her, hissing in her face for a moment, and told her my usual command. With this process, she started to bite much less than when we had first got her home. A few months of this discipline and she started to get a tad crafty on me and would return to the bite site after being punished to do it again. After about 3 days of this, I altered my plan to include a "time-out" cage (small 1ft x 1ft cage with nothing in it). When she would bite me a second time in a day, she would get a 5 minute time-out in the cage. This treatment worked effectively for almost a year. A few months ago, she's been biting again and being persistent about it, even after being in her time-out cage. She's now getting 3 offensives some days and getting a 5 and 10 minute punishment for the 2nd and 3rd bites, I'm nervous if she gets to a fourth one because I just don't think the time-outs will work anymore and I would hate to end her playtime since she's kinda lazy and would only use that as an excuse to curl up and sleep. I've also tried out the "bitter spray" method, but I ended up being the one punished with it the most for accidently touching the area that it was applied to and getting it near my mouth. I've spent a few hours in the bathroom desperately trying to wash the horrible taste out of my mouth a few times, but the spray doesn't even seem to phase either of my girls though.

She's been to the vet numerous times and she's perfectly fine. We've got her weight managed really well and she's otherwise a really happy ferret. Her and Harle get 2-3 hours of play time a day when work allows for it and my husband and I constantly give them attention even between playtimes. We even take them on walks to the mailbox and such. They get treats for being good, they are on the Innova ferret food diet, they have dozens of toys, a ferret nation two level cage, and several other things that I can honestly consider the little darlings to be utterly spoiled rotten. Harle is an utter jem, but Nora is still a problem biter. I love her so very much, and to have her bite me and my husband constantly is heartbreaking. But I utterly refuse, with all my soul, to give up on her. Even if she's a biter for the rest of her life, I will still love her and treat her as a loved member of our family.

I guess my question is, do any of you have advice on how I can conquer this little vampire, because I have officially run of discipline tactics.

Thank you in advance for reading this message, I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

Desperately Hopefully,
Bridget

UPDATE:COCO (growth on ear & vet estimate)

Cocochanel — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:23:52 GMT

I just wanted to quickly post a update on Coco. I took her to another vet yesterday, who seemed toknow more about ferrets. The vet explained everything to me, and took a lot of time to check her out. Actually, he spent about a hour and a half with Coco and I. They basically did a biopsy (can't remember what term they used exactly), and I will have the results on Monday. He said there is no way to tell what type of tumor it may be, and even if we don't get any results from the biopsy, at least it is a starting point. I also showed the vet the estimate from the previous vet I saw. He said it looked about right for a ferret. I will let you know the results when I get them. Thanks for all the responses.

favorite ferret cage feature

Ferrets Moderator — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:29:04 GMT

Besides the proper size, bar spacing and ventilation, what is your favorite feature of a ferret cage? If you choose other or wish to leave a comment that could be included in an upcoming article about ferret cages, please send an e-mail to ferrets@bowtieinc.com by Thursday April 23 at 3 p.m. EDT.

Ferret food. How what they eat may effect their health

dgoodnight77 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:20:10 GMT

Hello everyone. I was wondering if we could all get together to make all of our ferrets healthier and live longer, healthier lives. I was wondering if anyone would like to respond about what their ferrets are eating, like Marshalls, Totally Ferret, Innova.... etc.

Just wanting to help new ferret owners with the best diet. I have owned ferrets for 18 years, and have had one live 11 years. I work with a vet that is considered to be the ferret expert here in Colorado. Please feel free to stop by Dakota and Sammy's page.

Thanks to everyone... Happy feedings

Ferret limping, stepped on her foot

kumawrangler — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:35:15 GMT

Okay, so I was getting ready to take Kuma and KiKi out for a walk and KiKi (who was awfully excited at the prospect) ran behind me when I wasn't looking and I stepped on her paw with my full weight. Now, about a half hour later, that I've finished freaking out, I wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions on what I should watch out for or if there's the ferret equivalent of icing her leg or anything I should do. My husband and I both felt up her foot and leg, she made no noise and didn't move except to pull away from my husband once (which she did by dragging that foot through his fingers without issue) and didn't seem sensitive anywhere. The bones all felt fine and after a little cuddling, she wanted to go for the walk (which was very short and right outside my house) and seemed to be putting weight on it, though a little gingerly. She doesn't seem to be using her claws on that paw as much she otherwise might, but I'm thinking that that's just tenderness. Since I've put her back in her cage, she's walked up and down the wire steps alright and seems to be doing okay (she's currently sleeping). Anyway, we all know how anything that bothers them scares us to NO end, so I just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions other than just watching her and checking her leg periodically. Thanks so much in advance!

Vet Estimate - Am I being over charged?

Cocochanel — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:38:02 GMT

I posted earlier about a lump on my ferrets ear. I just saw the vet and was given a estimate of charges for removal of the lump. I am just curious if anyone else has had a lump removed, or do they usually do something like a bipsy first? Is this the approximate cost? Thanks for any help.

Here it is:

Blood sample collection - $13.22
CBC - $48.00
Presurgical (full) - $75.00
Anesthesia (20KG) - $83.72
Pulse Oximeter Monitor -$9.72
Fluid Therapy Subcutaneous -$33.04
Laser Surgery - $30.00
Surgical ack (Minor) - $15.20
Operating Room Supplies - $10.18
Ultrasound - Abdomen - $96.90
Histopathology Single - $120.00
Lab Courier - $9.25
Hospitalization Full Day - $18.36
SC/IM Injection - $18.24
Metacam Injectable - $7.78

TOTAL INC. TAX - $644.60

Where do you buy replacement shelves?

TurtMama — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:38:01 GMT

I just got a big ferret cage free on craigslist. It has to blue plastic shelves and they are cracked so I want to buy new ones and add more. Also it didnt come with the base of the cage so I have nothing for the bottom. I am wondering where to get these things from. I have been searching online for days and I havent seem to find what I am looking for. If i cant find them I will just put wood on the bottom of the cracked out so support them better and seal the cracks. Then maybe make some shelves my self. Any suggestions would be great.

Ferret with jack russell

animeboy1984 — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:03:07 GMT

Hey everyone, i have 2 ferrets and am considering picking up a 7 month old jack russell terrier. I was curious if anyone knew if this combination would be a good mix or not. i know different animals either get along or dont get along depending on how they are brought up etc etc.. I was reading up on some jack russells and apparently they like to hunt rodents, rats, birds etc.. so i dont want to jeopardize my lil buddies. Any info on if you think this will work or you have that current same setup please let me know. Thank you ahead of time.

-chris

Adrenal Disease in a young ferret???

4fursn1yrold — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:06:56 GMT

Hello I am not sure if many people really get on here and offer advice or not but I am going to try. I just got a new addition to our Ferret family and I am affraid he may have adrenal. He is missing a patch of fur on his side about the size of a quarter. The patch is perfectly matched where his back leg can itch. He itches there alot I think this is how the fur came off. The patch is located at the end of his ribs on his side towards his belly if that makes sense. I will try to put up a pic later. He was born rughly November 28 2008 so he is only 3 mo old. In all of the articles that I have read about adrenal he is awfully young to get this it seems to be in older ferrets. I was wondering if any one has experinced this with their babes or if any one has had an adrenal ferret that might know some other signs to look for. I just read that really agressive behavior is a key to look for. He is very young and agressive. My other two that I have had since they where 2 mo old where very agressive like him and they all come from the same breeder so I don't know if that is something to consider a characteristic or not. Thank you for any help anyone can offer.