My first question to you would be, is your ferret truly asleep?
 
I question this because I once had a little girl who went into these
trances and it turned out to be that she was having seizures instead.
Seizures can be related to a number of things and can last seconds or
minutes.  The minor seizures look just like they are zoning out
temporarily.  There is no foaming at the mouth, or convulsions - just
staring into space momentarily.  You may not even be aware it's happening
because it happens too fast to notice.  My little girl Titch, must have
been having them long before I realized what was happening to her.  I
started to clue in when she didn't seem to be reacting to smelling the
linatone I was giving her.  By this time, she had been having the shorter
ones awhile.  It was very hard to tell without watching her all the time.
And like I said, in the beginning they only lasted seconds.
 
Major seizures are definitely recognizable as typical seizures and are
truly horrible and scary to watch.  I remember feeling panicked each time
Titch had one and questioned whether I was doing the right thing when
treating her.  I would keep an eye on her and talk to your vet in the
meantime.  You may want to have blood work done.  My little girl ended up
having islet tumors on her liver and a rare bubble encasement on the top
of her heart, evident in the x-ray.  She started having these blank out
moments that over the course of a year became more and more frequent and
then became more typical of larger seizures.  She was the only one in my
group to get an electrocardiogram.  We couldn't save her...
 
I do not mention treatment here because that is only for your vet to
determine.  Each individual requires care directed at their specific
case.  Any treatment given without the aid or advice of a vet may actually
make things worse.
 
Your ferret may just be a weird sleeper, but my motto is always to be
better safe than sorry.
 
Betty and Her Blur O'Fur
[Posted in FML issue 3027]