I have heard stories of ferrets getting themselves caught between the
shell of a sleepsack and its lining, and suffocating as a result, but
I never knew of anyone who had it happen. All the stories were just
that - stories that were unverifiable. Well, today I almost had a
tragedy.

Baby ferrets (like 3 to 5 weeks old) are great at destroying bedding.
They are at an age where they want to chew on things. And, I currently
have a litter that will be 4 weeks old on Friday. I noticed last night
that one of them was chewing on the corner of their sleepsack, and
checked it and found no hole - yet.

Today I came out to check on the babies, and found no mommy, but I
could hear a gasping sound. I opened the cage, and grabbed up the
sleepsack. She was definitely in it, and in-between the lining and the
shell. I tried to find the hole, but when I did, it was too small for
me to reach in through, so I just ripped the sleepsack open. Momma was
limp and gasping for air, but alive.

Then I noticed one of the babies was missing, and started tearing the
sleepsack apart even more, until I found him. He was also limp but
breathing. He actually recovered more quickly than mom, probably
because he was so much smaller. I suspect that momma went in-between
the lining and shell to rescue the baby, and got herself trapped. She
was on the opposite side from where the hole was, and it appeared she
had been trying to claw her way out of that side.

So, the bottom line is, always check bedding for holes, and either
repair the holes or throw them out. I am just very lucky I found momma
and baby when I did. I suspect in another 5 or 10 minutes, momma might
have been dead. Fortunately, this is a story with a happy ending.

Danee DeVore

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[Posted in FML 7073]