I've been away 36 hrs and came home to find Cleo compulsively chewing
bedding -- She goes into a particular corner and chews whatever she
finds there.

She was doing it last week, and I thought that I understood why, and I
thought she had stopped. In the past, she has chewed when she's lost a
cagemate, and only done it for a short time.

Jonas has been sick, and I thought that was why Cleo had been chewing.
For three nights, almost 2 weeks ago, I kept him in my bedroom so I
could more easily do the each-2-hours feedings, so of course she might
have thought he was gone.

Jonas is acting normal now EXCEPT for some bad tooth grinding -- so of
course he is not normal. Do you think that worries Cleo? I doubt that
the problem is boredom, given the pattern I've see in her chewing over
the years. However, I may have missed something.

My other idea is that perhaps both ferrets have GI issues, and I
should start Cleo on antibiotics (Jonas is almost through a course of
them). Cleo's been getting 2 squeezes of Petromalt @ 12-hr intervals
for 50 hours.

What are your ideas as to why she might be doing this? What do you
think the treatment should be?

What shall I used for their bedding???? I have one small towel that is
made of some high-tech material that I hear doesn't shred, but that
wouldn't be enough. Where they sleep is cool -- the whole place is
cool -- no heating. The weather is moderate, so heating isn't needed
(nor AC). The way to deal w coolness is bedding.

[Posted in FML 7695]