Hi, Melissa,
 
have a deaf ferret named Pertwee.  He is a year and a half old marked
red-eyed white.  He is the largest of our ferts, and by far the most
energetic.  He loves to play and wrestle, and ride around on my shoulder
and my roommate's.  He is very affectionate as well, and is a people
ferret, meaning he likes being around people, playing with people, and
being held.
 
When we got him the pet store had him for about 20 weeks.  They couldn't
sell him because he was a "terrible biter".  Well, he was being kept in a
cage for months, and when they went to get him he was probably startled.
It took just a few days for him to be trained, both litter trained and nip
trained.
 
When you train a deaf ferret, just remember everything needs to be tactile
and/or visual.  Yelling "no" won't do a thing :) Litter training is about
the same as with any ferret: a treat for going where he should, and a
scruff and maybe a gentle shake for missing.  It didn't take him long to
get it at all.  You can also "talk" to a deaf ferret by holding him gently
against your throat and letting him feel the vibrations.  They also
understand affection (or lack thereof and a scruff if they bite) quite
well.
 
In our house you would be hard pressed to tell that Pertwee is handicapped
at all.  Melissa, don't worry about having and keeping a deaf ferret.
 
Oh, and since this comes up regularly, I'm posting this to FML as I did
early this year. To the long time FMLers, sorry for the extra bandwidth.
 
Pertwee's home page is at:  http://www.caitys-world.com/pertwee.html
 
I have new pictures, and hope to get them on my site within the next week
or so.
 
All the best,
Caity Martin
 
(mine: Adric, Kerr Avon, Nyssa, Romana, and Pertwee)
(his: Tenchi, Ryo-Ohki, and Lady Ayeka)
[Posted in FML issue 2897]