Living down in Southern Texas, fleas have proven to be an enormous problem.
They're everywhere, and it never freezes to kill them off.
 
But here's my tips:
 
1) Alternate flea baths - one week wash them good and pick off any fleas
that are still there-you night really have to work at this one, they try to
burrow into the skin when their host (our little fuzzies) gets wet.  The
next week use a no bath flea 'killer'-there's this mousse stuff for kittens
that we use that does the job, just rub it in, pick out the fleas, and give
the little guy a good brushing.
 
Very important, everytime you bathe your pet, change all bedding, vacuum,
thoroughly clean cage.
 
2)When we first found fleas on Twinkle Toes ('Twink' for short), we tried
flea collars, but they didn't seem to help.  Actually, every time we
checked, the fleas were hanging out around the collar, like it was happy
hour "Hey buddy, get a load of THIS collar!  This is some good stuff, man!"
and since it drove him nuts anyway, we threw the thing away.  Here's some
natural repellant ideas:
 
At the bottom of his/her/their bed put a pillowcase filled with cedar chips,
dried chamomile flowers, eucalyptus, and pennyroyal (you may only be able
to get this in the essential oil form, that's OK,just sprinkle in the mix
and you're set.).  These are all plants that fleas are supposed to hate.
Unfortunately, they were all plants that our ferret hates, too, so he slept
in our bed until I finally gave in.
 
The best thing I've found to keep the fleas away from Twink and myself is
garlic.  Bugs hate garlic.  Mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, any parasite-even
worms.  I hide a small piece in some peanut butter and give it to him as a
treat.  He hardly notices it.
 
3) The most painful part for everyone involved seems to be the incessant
itching.  Poor little guy.  *When you run the bath, put in some oat water.
Put some quick-cooking rolled oats in some muslin,pour hot water over it
and let it steep.  Kind of an 'oat tea'.  there is something about oats
that is very soothing to your skin.  Maybe you remember mom putting oats in
your bath when you had the chicken pox.
 
*Arnica cream - found at a natural foods store is also a safe treatment for
irritated skin.
 
*If he starts scratching himself to the point where his skin is getting red
and irritated, there's this stuff called Sulfadine.  Down here, you can get
it in the grocery store in the dog section.  I heard about this stuff from
a friend who said it worked miracles on her dog and urged me to try some.
I looked on the label, and the ingredients sounded OK, so I gave it a try.
Just a very small amount on a tiny spot, to see if there was any reaction.
The next day the red welts were gone, he wasn't scratching or biting, and
there were less fleas than normal.  The stuff helps alleviate itching,
prevents infection, and smells so bad that not only will your ferret not
touch it, but even the fleas seem to find it vile.
 
One thing to remember about fleas is that they are species specific.  There
is a kind of flea, that will only live on cats, and another who will only
live on dogs.  I don't think there is a ferret flea, I think the poor guys
get all of them.
 
I hope this helps on the flea question.  It's a constant war with us that
we'll never win.  I can't wait till we move to a colder climate where they
aren't so prevalent.  Maybe they'll leave us alone then.
 
Good luck with your fuzzbuts.
Mama and Twinkle Toes*
 
*Named after Fred Flinstone-it was his bowling name.  It just seems to me
everytime I see Twink scamper across the floor, I can here that little
cartoon noise Fred would make as he was getting ready to roll the bowling
ball,
[Posted in FML issue 2438]