I have a two year old male ferret who seems to be in perfect health.  Over
the past three or four months I have noticed an odd behavior from him that
none of my other ferrets have ever shown.  He uses the litter box several
times in a row only producing a small drop or two of mucus each time,
sometimes colored but often clear.  I know this isn't a blockage or ECE or
anything like that.  He eats well, plays hard, and has normal poops several
times a day.  This is almost like a nervous tic.
 
Some history on him: I took him from a pet store where he had been
returned.  The owners had let their "puppy" play with him and the puppy
chewed off half of one of his ears.  Apparently this, and whatever
treatment they gave him, made him terrified of practically everything and
quite a biter.  It took a year of cajoling to make him a momma's boy, but
he is still fairly nervous around people who visit my house.  I can send
him running for cover if I walk into a room when he isn't expecting it.
He is just an all-around scaredy ferret.  He did some acrobatics when he
was about six months old and broke a leg.  He went through the stress of
it, surgery, and the recovery period without any odd behaviors.  That's
why his new problem deciding if he needs to poop or not has me baffled.
 
Could this be a medical problem or has he just developed a nervous habit?
Any thoughts, advice, suggestions are welcomed.  Please!
 
Thanks,
Debi and the 10 (geez!  are we up to ten already?) weasels
and cat named Puppy
[Posted in FML issue 3288]