I know there will probably be a bunch of other responses to Jules' ear
cleaning question, but since I just went on fuzzy ear patrol the other
day, here's another one!
 
Really dirty itchy ears could very possibly be mites-- the way to tell
for sure is to take your boy to the vet and have him do a mite slide.
If it's positive you'll get some ear drops for him and the vet will tell
you how often to give them.  As for routine ear cleaning, every couple
of weeks is usually good--pretty much if ears look yucky, clean them (a
little bit of reddish-brown wax is ok, a ton of it is not).  The method
I use is to scruff the ferret with their hind feet resting on my lap, and
I use the swabs with the ear cleaner already in them that you just snap.
They might fight you-- when I adopted my Pukka, she had such bad mites
that she had scratched her ear to the point of bleeding, so now she is
permanently traumatized when it comes to ears, swatting and kicking at
me.  But it needs to be done-- just be gentle, go slow, and be sure to
tell your ferrets how good they're being!  A treat afterwards doesn't
hurt, either.  Obviously, if the ferret is *really* freaking out, stop
and try again later.  Good luck!
 
Rachel and the monsters
[Posted in FML issue 4609]