Mike Yoder wrote:
> The collar was a new nylon one [...].  I removed this collar when I
> found that it had shrunk about 2 inches in legnth ( it appears that
> he was scratching at it).
 
One of our ferrets has this same problem: he scratches at nylon
collars, and they shrink a -lot-.  The other ferret has no troubles.
Just use something else as a collar.  We got a thin, narrow leather
puppy collar, which works great.  (Careful, though -- leather may
shrink if it gets wet.)  Another idea is ball-chain like that on a
lamp pull or a toilet mechanism, which is very adjustable.  As far as
fur matting under the collar, when we took the ferrets' collars off
for a few weeks we found that their neck fur was ridged anyway because
of the fold of skin.  I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 
Last issue, somebody asked about clumping litter.  The danger is that
many ferrets sniff at their litter or drag their backsides in it.
Clumping litter, a fine dust, can get into their noses or rectums
(recta?) and cement itself there.  If your ferrets don't sniff or
drag, that's great, but it's something to consider before switching to
a clumping litter.
 
--
- Pam Greene  <[log in to unmask]>
Ferret Central - <http://www.ceas.rochester.edu:8080/ee/users/rhode/index.html>
Ferret FAQ - GET ANSWERS PACKAGE FERRET in mail to <[log in to unmask]>
[Posted in FML issue 1102]