I am so sorry to hear of Razz's death.  I think of the lucky guys Bob C.
took home with him when he visited our shelter some Christmases ago.  Razz
had weak shoulders because of decreased activity.  We have a little one,
Zeek Zeek, whose shoulder muscles are hypertrophied because a spinal injury
left him paraplegic.  He climbs, zips across the floor, and routinely beats
up all other ferrets in his path (small ferret syndrome?) and his shoulder
muscles are so enlarged that he wears off the hair below them.  He's not
crippled, just differently abled.
 
Re' ticks on ferrets, we once retreived a found ferret from a dumpster and
he was covered with ticks.  It took a week of bathing and "picking" to get
him clean again.  Despite the fact that he was vulnerable to Lyme Disease,
and perhaps to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (ferrets are not ricketsial
resistant, are they?) he never became ill.  He thrived and found a good
adoptive home through the Fritzes in Central Illinois.  We use Frontline
spray on all of our foundlings, once a season seems to do it, and have not
had a flea or tick problem for over 2 years despite the fact that we also
have 6 dogs, all indoor-outdoor.  A more important hazzard might be your
ferret's exposure to mosquitoes and the heart worm they carry.  My advise to
everyone is, "Don't take your ferret outside at all." One little bite, by a
bug or by the ferret or by the neighbor's previously friendly dog, can
shorten your baby's life significantly.
 
Bobbi <+:-)
Ferrets First Forever
[Posted in FML issue 2073]