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Female Ferret Some help please!

5K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  kpod10 
#1 ·
Hi there everyone!

I have 2 ferrets that I recently got on a local classifieds ad online, one boy and one girl brother and sister. The boy is very healthy and has lots of fur and very active! But the girl on the other hand has very thin fur with a few spots of no hair and seems rather thin. She doesn't have the same energy as her brother but is still very active She also walks with a limp but I was informed that it is an injury from when she was still a baby. When we got them from the previous owners they told us that when they received the 2 ferrets that they were in horrible condition of health and they were able to bring it up quite a bit. So my question is, what can I do for the female? The male is most definitely in great health now but the girl not so much, She seems healthy but her lack of fur in areas and how thin she is around her ribs as well concerns me. Any information at all would be appreciated! Thanks so much everyone!

Kayla
 
#4 ·
They are 2 years old but the boy is just fine. It's just the girl and she acts just fine she is more sleepy then her brother but he can play for hours on end before stopping to even look at a toy lol. I was thinking about it and I may have to soon but I just wanted to check and see if anyone knew what It may be or possibly something to do about it in the mean time.

We are their 3rd owners and we're going to be their forever home. The people we adopted them from said that when they got them they were in such a bad condition of lack of body fat and lack of fur as well. They brought up their health and I think the girl just needs something to boost her system. But I have no idea since these 2 are my first ferrets.
 
#5 ·
You definitely need to bring her to the vet, these are serious symptoms.
 
#6 ·
That's what I figured I just don't understand why the people we adopted her from didn't notice or take her to the vet. According to them neither of the two have been to the vet while in their care. I will call the vet and see what I can do for her. They just told us that that's just how she is since they got her she was worse in the beginning. They seemed very knowledgeable about ferrets as well which makes me wonder why they didn't. Oh well lol guess I gotta take her in soon. Thank you both for replying to this any other suggestions to make her more comfortable in the mean time would be welcomed! With christmas coming up it seems the vet is very busy, It was a weeks wait for my rat alone and we're going tomorrow with her.
 
#7 ·
perhaps some hammocks or pet beds would help her be comfy to sleep in . and some treats, you say that she sleeps more then the male so just figured maybe she needs a little more comforting then the boy till you can bring her to the vet. maybe some veggies or fruit becareful which ones you give her thou. Other then that theres not much i can think of that you can do, other then be patient and wait for the vet.
 
#8 ·
Thank you for the suggestions Nibbler! I will make her cage more comfortable and when I take her out leave some of my sweaters on the floor for her. She is always in my sweaters when I leave them on the floor. She cuddles up in them and sleeps lol. Sounds good thank you so much for the advice. I'll be sure to make outside of her cage comfortable since the inside of her cage already has a bed and 2 hammocks with material for her to bundle in. Thanks again!
 
#11 ·
You may want to look into adrenal disease - It is a very common problem in ferrets. It is an individual basis so it may not necessarily affect the brother. If I recall it is not contagious but can be treated with proper vet care & medication. You may also want to look at the food you are feeding - make sure it is a high quality food with lots of protein (I have some links that are stickied at the top of this section you can refer to for both food & adrenal disease).

Is she losing fur on just her tail or other parts of her body? And lastly have you bathed her at all?
 
#12 ·
I have looked into adrenal disease but the rning is is that we got these two ferrets from a couple about 2 and a half months ago and when we got them we were told that they were shedding and the boy did have a bald spot on his rump too and his fur came in and ugs very soft and thick. But her fur hadn't grown back and we do fred them food with high protein of 46% but she isn't loosing fur either she just has a very thin coat and a bald spot on her rump and compared top her brother she doesn't like to be pet I don't know if that helps but it's hard to even lightly pet her she'll run away or lie down. She also sleeps a lot more. These 2 are 2 years old and it's just strange because she had such s think coat and then that bald spot. She hasn't lost any fur though and we have barged them once since we got them. We try not to bath them too often about once every two months or so because they both hate the water and got really stressed when I did bath them. I am going to take them into the vet because according to the people we got them.from they haven't been while in their care. So i'm going to take then for a check up and shots.
 
#13 ·
It sounds like when Gunny had adrenal disease. You need to take them to the vet ASAP! Maybe the people you got them from noticed but couldn't afford it. I'm not sure, but I know that it sounds serious. I was terrified when Gunny had that! She did fine with her daily meds (luckily she learned to love medicine time!) Good luck and please keep us updated (especially me! I love ferrets!)
 
#14 ·
it sounds like your boy is fine BUT every symptom you describe is pointing to adrenal disease wich can untreated be painful for a ferret. And yes one can have adrenal disease and the other can be fine so i would say get her to the vet asap if you cannot afford the vet they do have at home tst kits for adrenal i believe that are cheaper, I may be wrong but i know there is a couple of test kits for ferrets you can do at home just cannot remember them right now.
 
#15 ·
if you go to www ferret com (sorry since I'm "new" can't do links yet) they have a lot of stuff for GREAT prices! I suggest that all the time for any ferret owner. Also if you have never owned a ferret I love Ferrets For Dummies. I read that a lot to help me and I learned a lot!
 
#16 ·
This is great for taking care of your ferret! This teaches you about how to make a bond with your ferret and you and about cage safty and much much more! My ferret never wants to leave my side!! Check it out if you get a chance! And why not even buy it, if you don’t like it you can always get a refund. But I absolutely LOVED it.
h t t p://tinyurl.com/64pgftt
(take out spaces of http)
 
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