Folks, hi, I have 2 questions & an answer.
 
The answer first:
I wrote several weeks ago about a ferret with an irregular shaped enlarging
bald spot on one side.  Our vet had already had us try an ointment that
included both antibacterial and antifungal ingredients, & when that didn't
help, I posted the fml for advice.  A couple of respondents suggested that
it might be ringworm, & the vet suspected that too at that time, but once
again, no response to the medication... (BTW did you know one of the tests
for ringworm is that it glows under ultraviolet light?  far out...)
 
At this point, the dog developed a round, pink, perfectly ringworm looking
bald spot on her leg but the vet's comment was that there are many
conditions that can have this appearance and had us try an antibacterial
shampoo (ChlorhexiDerm 2%), washing the ferret (& a few square inches of
the dog) 2x/week. &, after only 2 weeks, both are growing hair back.
 
Now the questions
1.  Have anyone's ferrets become constipated when the switched to Totally
Ferret?  When we got our first ferret & tried a kind of food she wasn't
accustomed to, she became very constipated after a few days; when we
switched her to Marshalls Farm food she did ok.  Now I've bought some TF &
have been feeding it mixed with the Marshalls for a few days & *both*
ferrets seem to have become constipated in the past 12 hours.  Is this
unusual?
 
2. I know this isn't a new question, but I would welcome tips from
experienced ferreters:
 
About 2 weeks ago we got our second ferret.  He is a year+ old and totally
not box trained.  Can we hope that first ferret, who he has bonded with
very nicely, will train him for us?  He seems to hate to even step into the
litter box do you think the clay cat litter hurts his feet?  He does seem
quite bright and people oriented, so he should be trainable, but I'm not
sure how to go about this, & in the meanwhile good little ferret #1 is
losing her training...
 
Thnx for all yr help!
[Posted in FML issue 2439]