On Thu, 23 Apr 1998, DJTuvell wrote to the FML:
>I SLEEP LIKE A "NEW MOM" / NIGHTMARES
>Up every hour (or more often on restless nights) at every little ferret
>noise!  What fun.  <SNIP>
 
Yep, been there, done that.  Waking up at the slightest sound, convinced
that they had gotten out the cage and were tunneling into the walls of the
house, or that their heads were caught in cage door, or that they were
freezing to death, or ...
 
Heh, heh, just wait until the first night that you leave them alone
overnight or with someone else for ferret sitting.  You will get NO sleep.
 
>... Mine appear to have nightmares too.  They twitch and whimper/cry and
>sometimes fall out of bed (hammock).  I try to gently wake them...
>Works wonders!  BTW, McKyle has been sleeping with his eyes half-open
>lately.  This really creeps me out.  Does anyone know anything about it?
>Oh yeah, and Merlin SNORES!  Not kidding!
 
Sleeping with the eyes half open is normal.  I'd keep an eye (ear?) on the
snoring.
 
I think that the twitching/whimpering is normal in some ferrets, too.  My
theory is that the twitching and the vocalizations are just involuntary
spasms, and have nothing to do with nightmares or "pain".  They're sort of
like sort of like humans' muscle jerks just as we're falling into deep
sleep.  I think these spasms are due to transient electrical "storms" in the
ferret's brain prior to REM sleep.  I don't think it's a sign of emotional
or physical distress, nor of neurological impairment, in an otherwise
healthy ferret.
 
-- Lee, one of the Massachusetts Ferret Friends
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[Posted in FML issue 2287]