Sarah,
 
Try making the water fairly warm.  The ferret's body temp is quite a bit
higher than ours and our tepid water is a cold bath to them.  You also might
want to try using a double basin sink, one for wash and one for rinse (or a
large bowl for one and sink for the other.)  Fill them in advance so that
there is no running water to frightened it.
 
Slowly lower the ferret in the wash water so that it can get used to it (same
with rinse water).  We use no-tears shampoo so that we don't burn the eyes.
 One tip is to use a bath oil like Avon's Skin so Soft in the final rinse to
help keep the skin from drying too much.  A few drops in the water and swirl.
 Add ferret and swirl again.
 
Some will never grow to love bath time, but most will learn to tollerate it.
 
DIck B.
[Posted in FML issue 1014]