Scared Ferret

Question
My ferret recently had the tramatic incident of choking on his food. We saved him, but he seems to be tramatized the the event. He still eats and drinks fine but does not play like he used to. He sometimes makes odd noises and acts afraid of us. I don't really have the money to keep taking him to the vet for tests, he is considered an exotic and cost more.

Answer
Hi Rebecca:

First, let me apologize because ai just now received your question!  You certainly deserved a reply long before this!  Because of all the AllExperts system problems, I started an online ferret group on Facebook called THUNDERING FERRET PAWS and there is always someone there, if not me then other experienced ferret owners who can usually help also.  I hope you will join us there so this never happens to you again.

Yes, ferrets are more expensive at the vet. We all have that same problem.  Is your ferret white or does he have white markings?  It sounds to me as if he MAY possibly be deaf.  Deaf ferrets startle rather easily.  Try making sure he sees your hand and approach him from the front before picking him up.  Ferrets who have white markings about the head, and many albino ferrets are deaf due to a gene in their breeding to create the white in their coats.  It is called Waardensburg a Syndrome.

The other possibility is that if you smacked him between the shoulder blades in attempting to save him from choking, he might have perceived it as you beating him, or actually abusing him and this has made him fear you.  The only way around that one is lots and lots of very gentle handling, kisses and playtime and in time he will forget  the incident. You might need to 're-program' his brain that you are his friend.  Just be gentle, loving, playful and give lots of kisses and I am sure he will eventually come around.

If you believe he is deaf, there is a lot of information online on how to communicate with deaf ferrets. They tend to be super intelligent and once the owner realizes the reason the ferret is skittish and finds non-verbal ways to communicate with the ferret, he will quickly learn (such as stomping your feet on the floor and he feels the vibrations to call him - you train by stomping your feet and offering a treat, then giving a tiny taste of a treat every time he comes when you stomp your feet (use TINY treat  amounts when training or they can easily get sick from too many treats, but a lick of Ferretone each time (mixture of 1/2 Ferretone and 1/2 olive oil is best so he does not overdose on the vitamins in Ferretone) works great for training.  There are a ton of other tricks for training deaf ferrets and also instructions on testing to see if your ferret is deaf at http://www.ferretcentral.org.  If you do a search on 'deaf ferrets' or 'Waardensburg Syndrome in ferrets' you will find all kinds of stuff that will do everything from help you diagnose him yourself to how to train using vibrations and hand signals.

Hope that helps.  Again, i am so sorry you got such a late reply.  I was suddenly sent about 20 questions tonite, some dating back to November 2014!!   I hope to see you soon on THUNDERING FERRET PAWS on a Facebook, where you can ask me or other experienced ferret owners (many with deaf ferrets!) questions and get FAST answers :-)

Sincerely,
Jacquie Rodgers