I have four ferrets that are very active, and (thankfully) quite healthy.
All are MF ferrets.  Only one have I actually bought from a store (she's
our youngest at 8 weeks...doing quite well assimilating into our "house".).
All of the others have been given to me by people who realize that they
couldn't give the attention needed for ferts.  Anyway...our black eyed
white male (fixed and descented) who is around 3 years old, is more
agressive than the others (he isn't the Alpha, however).  I was watching
him play this evening, and how he plays with my children and noticed that
he doesn't respond to sound...just visual activity.  In thinking about it,
he doesn't respond to sound when he's in his cage, sleeping either.  We did
the clapping behind him to see if he startled, and he did not.  Is there
a way to "test" to see if a ferret is actually deaf.  The vet who did his
physical told us that he was healthy and obviously well loved and cared for
(made us feel good, but I digress).  She didn't mention anything about his
hearing...don't think she did anything to test hearing.  Any advice would
be helpful.
 
--Julie
[Posted in FML issue 3212]