We've got one that is mildly claustrophobic.  I built a playpen for them
last year - to take on trips mostly.  The first time we put "Bear" in it he
freaked.  In less than one minute he had figured out how to high jump,
something he had never done before, and managed to catch the top edge of the
pen.  He proceeded to make at least a dozen escape attempts before we
convinced him that we weren't going to let him succeed.  Once he realized
that he was not permanently incarcerated (they were let out two or three
times a day for closely supervised play) he was fine and hasn't made any
escape attempts since.
 
He also has panic attacks when we travel, no matter which direction we are
going.  Since far more trips are made for pleasure than pain (i.e. vet), the
destination isn't the problem.  It's the being cooped up.  He is fine in the
big cage at home, it's just small cages that he can't get out of that bother
him.  We discovered that the easiest way to travel with him, and all the
others too, is to try to tire them out before we leave.  The very best
solution is to give baths about two hours before we are going to leave.
They get so wound up that they play nonstop for most of the two hours and
that is just enough time for them to completely dry so no one will get
chilled on the trip.  Once they are packed away for traveling they are
restless for about ten minutes and then they go right to sleep, only waking
when we stop or have traffic problems.  We have made 8+ hour trips with few
problems - of course we have to let them out to play when we get to our
destination.
 
RE:  Frenzied kit
 
All our ferrets totally freak when they get on the bed.  They seem to think
it is a giant trampoline/playground just designed for their use.  The
hissing and snapping is probably just his way of getting his person involved
and as long as he isn't nipping or biting there shouldn't be a problem.
Nipping too hard should definitely be discouraged.  And from what I've seen
and heard, all ferrets seem to itch almost constantly.  Six weeks is a bit
young for a first bath.  I'd wait a couple weeks, let him get acclimated,
and when you do bath him use very warm water (ferret body temp is 101) and
dry thoroughly in a warm place to prevent him getting chilled.  Meanwhile,
just check his coat and skin to make sure there aren't any dry spots or bug
bites.  A good diet is the best solution, possibly with some Ferretone
(check pet stores) or similar supplement to make sure he is getting a good
supply of fatty acids (necessary for skin/coat conditioning).
 
 
Pete & Amy              |  Ferret Liberation Army
 [log in to unmask]  |  Merlynn, Morgan, Arthur, Ashke, Coconut
                        |  "Death to all Ferret Free Zones!"
 
 
[Posted in FML issue 0581]