Hello, all. Sorry this took so long. Times have been rough around here. pretty damn bad, to be honest, but stabilizing now. More will come. Please, treat the following as an unfinished piece of work rather than as the final word. Comments, suggestions, and criticisms are desired. Show it to your vet for comments, too, please. When those are incorporated it can go into the FAQs. Ferret Behavior Welcome to ferret ownership/owneeship. Many of us on the Ferret List have had ferrets for over a decade and have had experience with a number of individuals. That doesn't mean we know all there is to know on behavior and training, of course. Of the many orders of mammals I've worked with over the years ferrets have one of the widest ranges of personalities so it is much harder to find pat answers with them than it is with other critters, such as cats, which have also been domesticated for thousands of years. Use the tips you find here as guides and adjust them to your ferret's personality. To begin, ferrets are Mustelids. This is a family in the Order Carnivora, and contains such characters as skunks, otters, weasels, and mink. For a reasonable overview look in references such as Walker's Mammals of the World, vol II. Like many of their relatives ferrets do mark their home turf, including you. They also have the capacity to spray if frightened, but that odor does not linger so unless your individual is a rare problem sprayer or has a medical disorder of the anal musk glands descenting is usually not recommended because it often has serious complications which can damage the ferret's quality of life. Behind the ears is another set of musk glands. Sometimes ferrets will force extra scent through these by sneezing, especially by sneezing while holding the nose with "hands", or by tooth grinding, though tooth grinding is more commonly associated in most individuals with dental problems or abdominal pain. You will then receive a thorough head rubbing just to make sure the world knows who you belong to. Unfortunately, many ferrets also mark territories with waste products as do cats and dogs, but most can be taught to usually or always use the litter box with consistent training. In fact, some become so consistent about using their pots that a miss, especially one in a treasured part of the house is used to signal the owner that something (such as a urinary or fecal disease) is wrong. Ferrets have a wide range of vocalizations, especially while kits. Some remain strong vocalizers throughout life. When upset a ferret may hiss, chitter, sound as if it cursing under its breath, or scream. The cursing sound also tends to happen when an individual is determined, curious, or on patrol. A few kits yip for good food. Playing ferrets beep and laugh; the latter sounds a great deal like soft, breathy human laughter. Notice that higher placed individuals in the group tend to use lower pitched voices, and that the voices become lower pitched still in disciplinary situations. (This is also often true among humans and a number of other mammals.) Use the observation as a guide when you speak to your ferrets; after all, "Bad, bad, bad" said in a high, cheerful voice just does not get the message across. Exception: some individual ferrets are deaf or partially deaf; if one of your ferrets can not hear low sounds use higher pitched sounds with that individual. Don't be surprised that ferrets understand speech better than most other pet canines. After all, for a few million years they evolved to find and corner prey in burrows (being poor hunters even the wild relatives of our pet stock need a large number of potential prey individuals and places to corner them or they go hungry, unlike animals which are more adept at hunting freely moving creatures). That means that they have to be able to make sense of the vocalizations and motion sounds of their own kind and their prey species, as well as those of possible predators which can endanger them. Do expect them to learn many words and relationships between those words in simple sentences; but don't expect them to always listen. When a ferret decides to concentrate on something else it will just ignore you. For proof of how well a ferret can listen and behave all you need to do is undergo major surgery with a large incision; for 4 to 6 weeks your ferrets will be perfect for the pickiest human desires. It's easier, however, to accept that ferrets are ferrets and our chaos is often their idea of perfection. Once you get used to your new house mates you will notice that they have a number of facial expressions. The first one you recognize will either be "Aren't I cute?"or "Feel guilty." Both incorporate wide eyes, but while the first has a relaxed face the second is downright sad. Expressions are seen in how tensely the face is held, whether the ears are happily forward or pulled back, the mouth position (yes, they do smile), and how wide the eyes are. Many expressions use the same fundamentals used by most mammals -- such as extremely wide eyes with terror. The body language is another matter. You can often read ferret faces from understanding human faces, but you often can not do that with their postures. You can surprise your ferret by knowing when it will soon have to go to the bathroom, usually before it knows the impending need. Just watch the base of the tail. When it gets stiff the critter will soon have to pass its bowels. Up raised tails can have several meanings, from "Aren't I a hot shot.", to I am about to go to the bathroom. Piloerection of the tail often occurs with excitement, but once the fur is up elsewhere the emotion has greatly escalated. Yes, many ferrets wag their tails when happy such as in tickle games (Always let the animal decide when to stop this game or it can become uncomfortable.), hide and seek, dancing, and running through tubes. Some ferrets think they are well hidden if their heads are under cover, but the rear will be sticking out and the tail wagging a mile a minute which you "search". Kits and low ranking individuals often keep lowered tails in their group. A playful ferret commonly has an arched back, while a determined one may (or may not) hold the back straighter. If a ferret's back is almost always straight, or if it twitches, or is poorly supported it should be examined by a vet. When first seeing a ferret dance folks often wonder it they are seeing some type of convulsion. The animal will arch, hop, fling its body back and forth, and even slam into walls. Be calm and have a good belly laugh. You are just being treated to an expression of unbridled joy. Many ferrets also shiver or tremble with joy, with tension, or to pull up the body temperature after sleeping. Ferrets love to sneak and dash into whereever they are not supposed to go. Around here we have a name for this benevolent behavior; we call it snerching. Be careful because there have been ferrets lost to motors, recliner mechanisms, refrigerators, stoves, furnaces, dishwashers, driers, electrocution, intestinal blockage, poisoning, etc. when this behavior was not taken into account or when an accident happened despite precautions being taken. Safety is why most long term ferret owners have ferret-proof areas for their furries or use a large (often multi-tier ) cage for them when they can't be supervised. Ferrets stash things, and their sense of order is not likely to match your's. Once you have to search an hour for keys, wallet, or purse you will learn to keep such items out of reach, learn where to find others, and will give the critters some toys of their own, such as mice made of old socks stuffed into each other and knotted, or jingle bells in a childproof bottle, or crinkle sacks (also called racket sacks), tubes, and light weight plastic basins they can crawl under to play "daleks", i.e. dashing around blindly like an outer space partly automated invader (a game also cherished by human children, chimps, and BBC intellectuals). What is all that talk you have heard from nay-sayers about biting? Look into the figures. Those I have seen show a much lower rate of serious biting than is found among cats and dogs while the historical world-wide death rate remains at fewer than five -- compare that to cat or dog caused deaths in just one year, plus ferret teeth are dramatically smaller than in those animals. As with cats or dogs the young have to be taught to not bite. We all take that for granted, don't we? In the past, there was more of a problem with some unscrupulous individuals selling fur fitch (a related stock, as dogs are related to wild dogs, dingoes, wolves, and coyotes, and cats to some forms of wild cats) as pet stock but that is something we have rarely heard about recently, and even fitch will tame reasonably. More commonly when biting is encountered the animals have been mishandled, just as is found with dogs and cats which bite. Kits will nip, just like kittens and puppies do but consistent training will stop the behavior in any of the three. Ferrets respond very well to praise and some ferrets train best by being praised when they behave well and put into a cage then ignored for a while when bad. Others do better when there is also some negative reinforcement used, such as a finger flick to the nose, pressing the teeth against gums firmly (but not so tightly as to injure in any way), or using disliked tastes and/or smells such as toothpaste, or foul training aids (some names on the market are Bitter Apple, Sour Grapes, and Bitter Lime). As we know from personal experience even clinically retarded ferrets can be trained to behave. There are times when your ferret will think that nibbling on you is an expression of love. For some reason they object to bumps on ankles and feet and regularly try to groom these off. You will find that wearing a pair of socks or socks and slippers will help a lot. At times we hear of (and once experienced) an adult male or neutered male ferret which decides to flirt with a human female. Unfortunately a serious ferret pass involves putting teeth into a cylindrical object. Our Hjalmar only tried it once, and behaved like he was horrified by my negative reaction. Although he never tried it again I did put Bitter Apple on my leg. Since this happens so very rarely (except when humans get the odor of a female in season on an arm while cage cleaning or handling and then work with a whole male) it probably pays to recognize that the ferret may have a tumor (as Hjalmar, who was neutered, was found to have) which causes the production of an unusual amount of testosterone. As such it may be a useful disease warning. When you train your ferrets to perform as you want always remember praise and consistency. This is true whether you are training them not to nip, to use their litter pots consistently, or to do tricks (especially useful when you need to exercise an ill animal). When possible build the behavior from what you have learned of your animal's natural behavior. Use words such as "No!". Don't forget little aids such as bad smells, plastic rug runners for diggers, Clorox or other smell reducers for stopping "accidents" in a given spot, etc. If your ferret is deaf floor pounding to get attention can help. If your ferret is blind don't worry since sight isn't used too much. At least one ferret on this List is both blind and deaf, but is a loving, cuddling, well behaved, happy critter. Even abused ferrets can be rehabilitated. We worked only one and had great success. For information on this topic check with a ferret shelter where the individuals have a large amount of rehab experience. Keep your ferret's area as safe as you can. Recently we read of a ferret which had chewed electric cords and caused a house fire. Every year someone on the net has or knows of a ferret which ate the wrong house plant, got into the neighbor's poison, fell from a height, was crushed, got stuck in a wall, ate a rubber stopper and developed an intestinal blockage, suffocated with it's head stuck in something, got into a drainage pipe or furnace duct, was given the wrong type of toy and died, developed lung problems after being in wood chips, got its penile bone caught in rough cage wire, etc. Love your ferret and you will be richly loved in return. Medical Concerns and Your Ferret Treat this as a work-in-progress, not a resource. This is NOT a final draft (nor is it complete -- it's just the beginning of this section). PLEASE, send comments and get your vets' comments for me. Corrections are greatly appreciated, especially from vets and those with intense or long term experience on these items. Because health care changes so very rapidly it is especially important that this section remain malleable, with addenda regularly attached and rewrites done every 2 to 5 years depending on progress. Introduction NO MATTER WHICH SECTIONS INTEREST YOU THE MOST READ THIS INTRODUCTION FIRST, BEFORE YOU READ ABOUT ANY SPECIFIC HEALTH CONCERN. Why? Because the progress in ferret health care is shockingly rapid, and with so much still to be learned changes will probably continue to occur at a startling rate. Here is just one example. About five and a half years ago (It is now 1993.) we lost a ferret to lymphosarcoma. She was being treated at the Animal Medical Center (AMC) in NYC, one of the nation's top veterinary health research clinics. When we agreed to try chemotherapy there were no guidelines; in fact, the vets had never heard of this being yet tried with a ferret. Two years later another of our ferrets had lympho (along with insulinoma). Because of advances she lived an extra eight, mostly happy months. Not long after her death another net member's ferret developed lympho. Using a newly applied chemo protocol by Ann Jeglum that individual not only survived but has now been living in remission for over a year. Since the changes in ferret veterinary care are so rapid, and increasingly complex, and because so much of prevention and treatment are still largely guesswork -- albeit educated guesswork when possible, it is ESSENTIAL that your veterinarian(s) be well read, experienced, up-to-date, and willing to consistently and often interact with ferret veterinary experts. If that is not the case, dump that individual just as you would a bad human physician. Your other main responsibilities will be: 1. Providing nursing care, and 2. recognizing when a health problem is occurring and jumping as fast as you need to. Ferrets are amazingly robust and can survive many serious illnesses better than cats do, but some things such as electrolyte imbalances and dehydration move so rapidly in them that you simply can not wait a day without the risk of losing your pet. Danger Signs (This list is by no means complete. Depending on your ferret's specific case there can be other signs, and depending on your ferret's situation some of these signs may be more dangerous than they would be for others.) 1. If your ferret shows the loose, inelastic skin and dull eyes found with dehyration get it to the vet immediately. 2. If your ferret has severe diarrhea, green diarrhea, or severe vomiting get it to the vet immediately. 3. If your ferret has been injured get it to the vet immediatly or consult with that individual on the telephone depending on the injury and symptoms. 4. If your ferret may have an intestinal blockage: gagging, constipation, known or suspected ingestion of items which don't dissolve such as rubber , plastic, and some fabrics (even items which do dissolve such as fur or cotton have caused fatal blockages when they have failed to do so or to pass) get it to the vet immediately. 5. If your ferret has signs of respitory stress such as wheezing, persistent cough, gasping, or colored discharge get it to the vet right away. The problem may range from an infection such as pneumonia or influenza, to fluid accumulated around the heart and lungs, to asthma, to lung tumors, or a number of other diseases/disorders. 6. If your ferret has an infection check with the vet and come in as rapidly as the vet suggests. This rule carries when you find your ferret's rectal temperature is over 102'F or other signs of possible infection such as enlarged nodes, foul smell, etc. are present. 7. Get any ferret to the vet immediately if it collapses or goes into shock or displays severe lethargy. Call the vet to consult and come in as soon as recommended if there is unusual exhaustion. 8. Get the critter to the vet right away in cases of extreme exposure to heat or cold. 9. Any ferret in seizures must go to the vet immediately, and if the vet is a long distance away call to see if you should carry a sweet such as Nutrical or corn syrup to rub on the ferret's gums in case the seizure has been caused by a drop in blood sugar. 10. If a ferret starts tooth grinding call the vet and be prepared to go in to the office right away since some ferrets tooth grind in response to abdominal pain. 11. If your ferret suddenly becomes pale, especially at gums or starts unexplained bleeding get it to the vet right away. 12. Like people ferrets can have severe reactions, including to medication which must be treated before they go too deeply into shock. Some are adverse reactions and some are caused by allergies. 13. If your ferret has a vulval swelling but has been spayed, or if she has such a heat swelling and you do not intend to breed her call the vet to consult and get her in as soon as vet suggests. An unbred female will develope severe anemia and die unless you take action. A spayed female with such signs may have had an unsuccessful spaying or may have a tumor. 14. Don't wait if your ferret has sudden or serious weight loss. 15. If your ferret loses a large amount of hair, especially if the loss extends beyond the tail your ferret could have a tumor and you should come in as your vet suggests. 16. If you find a tumor on or in your vet call to consult and set an appointment. 17. Rotten teeth can be painful and dangerous. If your ferret needs dental care set an appointment. 18. Unusual behavior can be an animal's way to signal that it is ill. If it goes to the bathroom in a treasured spot, suddenly adopts infantile behaviors inappropriate for its age, becomes disagreeable or unusually angry or sad, it may be trying to let you know that something is wrong. Call your vet and follow the advice you receive. 19. If your ferret has gotten into poison, or if you even suspect the ferret may have done so get it to the vet immediately. Learn about household poisons and which common houseplants are poisonous. 20. Ferrets which have not had previous care, or whose health history is not known should see a vet and be care for as the vet suggests. 21. If you have not kept up with your ferret's yearly exams and vaccinations call and set up an appointment. I plan to do a thorough section on diet, prevention, and nursing and more of an overview on the actual medical treatments themselves inless Bruce would like to do that part in more detail since he is a vet. How does this look to folks so far? Again, this has not yet been reviewed and should NOT be treated as if it is the final word. It's here specifically so that readers and their vets can read it and help me get to a final version. Sorry it was so delayed. Most of you know me well, and realize that I would not do so without good reason. Love, Sukie, Steve, Meltdown, Ruffle, 'Chopper the ferret helicopter, Spot, &Meeteetse [Posted in FML issue 0620]