Jo - numer one - don't bath your ferrets too much.  I only bathe mine a
couple of times a year.  Once every 3 months is probably plenty!  Trust
me - they will seem stinkier for a week or two then suddenly the smell
will just go away as the glands in their skin quit overproducing oil in a
reaction to the baths.
 
It is far more important to change their bedding regularly.  I can tell
exactly where my ferrets have been by how they smell - their fur picks up
smells really well.  For example - the other night I cooked Italian and so
cut garlic, later I pet Giesela after I had washed my hands several times,
the next morning it took me a minute to figure out whey she smelled faintly
of garlic.  If they've been outside they smell like grass or leaf mold, up
from the basement they smell musty.
 
Last - when you do bath make sure the water is pretty warm/hot.  Their body
temperature is actually a little higher than ours.  You don't want to burn
them obviously but the same temperature you like a hot shower at certainly.
That makes baths far more liveable.
 
One last tip - I take the shampoo, put the dab I would use in a glass and
dilute with water - then pour the water all over the ferret (watch the eyes
natch).  This way you get even shampoo distribution without having to use
more shampoo than necessary and makes rinsing lots and lots easier.
 
Mary
 
"Animals are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other
 nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time,"
 Henry Beston
[Posted in FML issue 3299]