Yes, I have had a ferret that depressed.  Yes, you are probably never
going to be able to adopt out Max.  I believe some ferrets, like Sara
and Max, are far more fragile emotionally then most other ferrets.
 
I was Sara's third owner.  In her short life she had lost a brother (I
heard) to distemper, then given to a different owner who kept her in a
cage pretty much full time.  We won't even discuss her diet.
 
When I got her, she didn't move.  No matter what position Sara was put
in, there she would stay.  She was so quiet it was scary.  I thought she
would die.
 
Here's what I did with Sara.
 
I carried Sara everywhere I could, I would put her in a pouch, next to
my heart where I knew she could feel and hear it, and took her with me:
cleaning the house, car trips, sitting outside - where I went, Sara went.
 
I fed her by hand.  I held her upside down and massaged her, telling her
what a wonderful, beautiful ferret she was and other nonsense.  I offered
her treats.
 
The first time she staggered out of her pouch, I almost cried.
 
It took almost a month, but she's a real ferret now.  A pissy, cranky one
prone to irritable shrieking if one of the other ferrets somehow offends
her, but a real ferret nonetheless.  She plays and dooks and eats her
craisins like the shark in Jaws ate people.
 
And I wouldn't give her up for the world.
 
anne
[Posted in FML issue 5065]