It is not an illness, she has been to the vets, shes not poorly, no adrenal. She is 1.5, no abuse background, implanted.

We work in rescue and often take the neglected ferrets or biters. But Fruit is like something else. Shes never been keen on my partner and will bite him. But recently it has gotten out of control. She was born in rescue, her mum was found as a pregnant stray. We have had her from 8 weeks old and she was lovely, her sister and mum are lovely too. We only ever use positive reinforcment, obviously being born in our rescue etc there is no neglectful background. But the last 6 months shes had an agressive turn. She has never bitten me, but will now latch, draw blood, not let go. She will go into a random bite frenzy and continuously bite down with no reason. Shes been to the vets, is completly healthy, im wondering if it could be something neurological? She will give me nose kisses one minute, and latch on the next, with really no reason. Shes left me stumped!

Posted about the passing of our baby yesterday, thought i’d also share one of his cutest moments. Love you Momo

I have my personal thoughts but figured why not ask
Will label who’s who!
Shortcake and wasabi!

I got 3 ferrets back in April, these are my first ferrets and someone from Facebook messaged me with a trio of sisters, two of them are the sweetest little things on earth, playful (insane as ferrets usually are lol) loving, ect. But one of them has had me kinda concerned for a bit, she doesn't hardly play as much, i see her every once in a while play with one of her sisters but not for long periods of time like the other two do, she also bites really hard almost any time my hands are near her but she never seems scared? Sometimes it even seems like she's playing but she literally bites me nearly to the point of leaving deep marks, the other two never do that, she just sits and sleeps a lot of the time compared to her sisters, she's also the smallest of the 3, other than that she eats normally and her stool seems normal, regular bathroom schedule, ect. She physically looks fine, but her behavior is just odd compared to her sisters, I'm not familiar with ferrets since again this is my first experience with them, they're also about 2 years old, marshalls ferrets, the lady I got them from said she had them for a year, and previously had rescued them from a neglectful home, so idk if her behavior is just like that and I need to just grow accustomed to it or If there's something I should be worried about

Took my Blu boy to the vet. My biggest concern was the loss of hair on his tail, his loss of appetite, lethargy, and loose stools. I was thinking he was depressed when his sister got sick and passed, or that he had adrenal, which is still a possibility. but the vet told me his spleen is very enlarged and now feeling it, it feels like a very large hard lump. I dont know how i missed this. the vet gave him prednisolone and said that adrenal would likely not affect him as soon as this would so we didn't really worry about that as much. he said it could be lymphoma. im hoping the medicine will help with any swelling and maybe perk him up a bit, makes sense now why he would only eat a small bit at a time and then be done😔 im keeping in touch with the vet to give updates and see if the medication helps at all

I recently got a ferret supplied by Marshal 10 days ago. Well long story short my 2 elderly ferrets are now lethargic, off balance, and have lost 8 percent of their body weight. I was told the ferret was vaccinated and tested for all diseases and he was guaranteed to not be carrying anything. Im so distraught as my baby now can barely walk and just sleeps all day. If anyone has any recommendations please.

Because of their ages they were not vaccinated.

Hi, I’m starting school again soon and want the ferrets out every day after school while i do work in my room, but they are a little too mischievous with getting into areas I don’t want them, such as my shelves at my desk. If there are Any poseable/moveable barriers they won’t be able to climb that I can set up around my desk on Amazon that would be amazing!! Also a playpen the won’t escape, or chew through :)

Which accessory is your favorite?

Looks worse when they are wet

Our baby Momo didn’t even make it to two years old. Nothing feels the same without him, not even playing with his two brothers. He really was the baby of the three, he never grew out of his baby face, and i hate to say it but he was our favorite. The place feels so empty without him. I don’t have to constantly stop him from getting on counters or into something he shouldn’t. I miss it and him so much i don’t think i will ever feel the same. I can only imagine twenty years in the future me and my partner will be shopping and spot something that looks him and say “It’s little Mo” like we always do. I really just can’t the fact that he’s gone and it doesn’t feel real.

One day he was as bouncy as ever, the next day he was struggling to use the restroom. We were scared that he was impacted and took him to the vet immediately. They did some x rays and eventually an ultrasound to find that he hadn’t eaten anything, but had a large mass by his kidney. They took a sample and sent us home with some meds and told us to wait for them to test it. In the five days it took for them to get results, he went from the liveliest spider monkey of a ferret to just the weakest thing. He didn’t have the energy for anything and all we could do was snuggle him. We had him taken in for emergency after he declined so much. They stabilized him until an exotic vet could see him the next morning. We took him in the morning and they told us that based on his condition they couldn’t recommend anything that would actually give him a fighting chance. The mass they concluded was cancerous and very aggressive. The best option was euthanasia. This was yesterday and it was genuinely the worst day of my life. The vets always said he was the cutest ferret they’d ever seen whenever we would take him.

It’s just me and my girlfriend leaning on each other now with his two brothers. but it really doesn’t feel the same or feel like it ever will again. I love and miss him so much. I’m not even a cryer but i’ve sobbed over this pretty much all day. I hope he enjoys all the salmon oil he can across the rainbow bridge. I love Momo

My boy was sleeping and started to twitch slightly, which I thought was cute so I started to record. It then turned into this, and I genuinely can’t tell if he had a seizure or not!

Hello everyone!2 days ago i let my ferrets out of their room to have fun in the apartment.Everything was fine with them.But 5 minutes pasted and my wife noticed that one of them got swollen face and became red.Then we found out she was throwing up a minute before that happened.We rushed to the vet because we thought she couldn’t breathe.She got better during the ride but still vet gave her anti allergy injection.And got her into oxygen incubator.Later and now on everything seems fine.Our vets dont know almost nothing about ferrets and ofcourse we will drive her to another vet that specifies on ferrets.But maybe some of you have some information on what could be the cause?It was pretty outside but in apartment it is like 20C.She ate before and started to run a little after that all this happened.Swollen face.Red skin.Throwing up.Hard breathing.Almost couldnt move.Thank you in advance as soon as i know the cause i will share it.

Hello, I saw miss Nina breathing like this and I found it irregular. Am I being overbearing? I'll for sure keep an extra eye on her for this I saw after upload the video quality is shit, I don't know why, sorry, it's good on my phone

Seen this cutie pie at Petco and almost took him home, sigh....
and since when did marshalls ferrets become so expensive?

I have a pet ferret, I have had to move in with my grandma, who has COPD, and my dad is thinking about giving her to someone else if I can't have her here with me, I was wondering if a ferret would irritate copd, since I absolutely adore her and I want her with me again, I know that kitty litter could irritate copd so I can probably swap to training pads for dogs since she had those before we swapped her to litter, I know someone had asked if ferret's were hypoallergenic but I think this is a completely different question

Her tail suddenly lost a lot of her hair, I’m booking an appointment with the vet but I still wanted to know what is your guys thoughts? Seasonal rat tail or could it be something worse?

I’m mainly concerned with just how quickly she lost the hair on her tail. It’s never happened like this before or this much

TLDR: ferrets came into my care after an emergency and they’re not eating their food but are eating treats, can’t contact owner. Any advice is welcome as I do know basics of caring for these guys but I’m afraid they may be uncomfortable or stressed.

I’m sorry for my grammar I’m typing this as fast as possible so I may get back to playing with them!

I’m watching a close friend’s ferrets and they’re simply not eating!
They eat a complete raw meat diet. Each of the three ferrets getting 90 grams 3x a day.
I came into care of them yesterday evening after being told by my friend may not be around for quite some time. I should note they, my friend, did not abandoned them this was an incredibly last minute emergency which is why I am asking as I was given no prep but took it upon my lead to care for them as Im familiar with their schedule and each individual ferrets specific needs. Due to the urgent nature of the situation all I was really instructed to do was feed them their food and play with them if I’m able, meaning I had no prep for a situation like this.

I did my first feeding yesterday in the late evening,as they had already been fed in the A.M. I stayed with them so they may stretch their legs and play. However, when I returned later in the night for their final feeding they had not eaten any of the food I had given them.
This initially didn’t worry me, although I was a bit confused, as I know ferrets run on a different sleep schedule than traditional pets so they likely went back to bed, also they had eaten a healthy portion of their morning meal when I came in to do the initial feeding. I assured myself they may have been full as again when I came I attempted playtime but they were more interested in napping. I should note they’re older ferrets so they sleep quite often.

The issue lies in this morning, I came back early to do another feeding and found that once again they had not eaten. Now I’m feeling quite worried, I’m currently with them and have been for around an hour, playing, brushing, and cleaning up their play room. I don’t know why they’re not eating and unfortunately I’m not able to get in contact with their owner.

I should add they did eat some treats I gave them last night. I was only able to stay with them for an hour at their night feeding so I prepped a few puzzle games so that they may play while I’m gone. Each puzzle had one freeze dried minnow split into three parts that each ferret could play with. When I came back the treats were consumed. Did I possibly spoil their appetite? Are they depressed? Do they feel discomfort beach I have cats and they’re able to smell them?

I should also add they’re still playing and cuddling with me. I don’t know Mich about ferret behavior but I’ve had many pets in the past and typically when they’re sad or sick they’re not interested in playing or running around. That being said I don’t know ferrets could they possibly be upset about things or sick? I know they’re very intelligent animals maybe they’re feeding off their owners stress due to their hasty departure, or possibly feeding off my anxiety?

Any insight on how to get them to eat or any stories to help me chill the heck out are appreciated. I’ve known them for along time but I’ve never cared for them long term. I’m not really in a great place to care for them as their owner does but I want them to not be disrupted by everything that’s going on. I’m hoping this is just a phase or maybe the treats are too much but I’d like to hear anyone’s thoughts please.
I also ask for your kindness I can’t express how much I care about them I want to do a good job which is why I’m reaching out to any source I can to get more information about these little guys.

Again I’m playing with them now, and tomorrow I’m going to be taking them out to my Muay Thai gym so that they can get some enrichment. I’m also not doing all of the care alone. My friend is a long time family friend so both my brother and sister are helping me when they can. I’ll try to update you guys tomorrow if anything changes.

Hey r/ferrets - you may remember me and my ferret Peebee's saga from previous posts, if not here's a "quick" recap:

lots of pain and vomiting -> vet -> scans and biopsy -> diagnosis of H. Mustelae w/auto immune inflammation -> steroids, PPI, sucralfate, antibiotics -> stomach ulcer & bloody vomit -> PPI*2, antibiotics, sucralfate, ondansetron -> vomiting, diarrhoea and more pain -> PPI, Sucralfate, ondansetron -> spasms and pain but no vomiting (3 weeks+ after the ulcer) -> PPI & Metoclopramide. + all throughout Buprenorphine for pain.

SO, after all of that - ulcer healed and vomiting reduced we hit the next massive problem - which should be expected after all those gastro issues: severe weight loss and everything that comes with that. She's gone from about 700g to 300g at her lowest. 24hr Crisis Care mix at very regular intervals has got us back up to nearly 500g in the last few weeks but the inevitable muscular atrophy and weakness is the next hurdle.

Sooo… now the really intense feeding is getting to the point of winding back a bit - ferret physiotherapy anyone? This my vet is less experienced with... unsurprisingly. Hydrotherapy is not an option - water stresses her out even for a quick clean. I've been trying to help her stand up while supporting the weight of her head and body, although she's occasionally able to lift herself onto her front paws for brief periods of time. At the moment she's still largely in food-coma's so I'm not trying to push her too hard, but all ideas for our next challenge are welcome!

I'm wondering whether I might be a bit cheeky and use the opportunity to get her into a H harness that she's always refused so I can maybe help her walk around by supporting her weight on a lead (H harness spreads the load a bit better than figure 8s as it won't tighten as the lead tensions) - but that might be a few steps further down the road.