Mink oil costs through the nose.  Better to use more affordable products
and save the money for the important stuff like vet care.  (Says she who
would love to replace an old bathtub and a 20 year old carpet, but puts
the money into ferret health care instead and is willing to do without
or go cheap for her own needs...)
 
BTW, the ancient Romans used steam and a hot soak, then well processed
(pretty much colorless) olive oil and a stygle (however the heck that is
spelled).  There are places today that charge a pretty penny to do that
for a person, but it can be done at home for almost nothing with store
brand olive oil and a scraper, spatula, or icing "knife" (those are not
sharp but are knife shaped) and is entirely natural -- just be sure to
have something for the oil to drop onto.
 
If you want the most basic exfoliator, too, friends of my grandparents
used lemon juice or sometimes other citrus juices, diluted by some but
not by all.  That or vinegar diluted were their hair rinses.  White cloth
scraps and bobby pins were their curlers.  (Take a piece of hair and fold
a scrap of the cloth that is at least as long as the strand around the
strand.  Roll it up toward scalp.  Pin.  Repeat for more strands.  A
ponytail can at times be done as one strand.  Wait long enough, or even
sit in a steaming bath.  Unroll and you have your curl.  If you are not
going to sleep you can even use safety pins or diaper pins to hold these
in place.) Those are from memory.  I am sure that more are on the
internet; so very, very many things are.  All it takes is seeking.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
replacing
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5122]