Ferret eating cloth

Question
I wanted to add a comment about ferrets who eat cloth. I had a male who did that from a baby until he went to the Rainbow Bridge. Now I have another baby who is doing it also. Someone told me it is when they leave the Mother too early & continue trying to suckle. I questioned that, but, now I have a baby who was too young to leave his Mother. I bought him cause I felt if he got into an unexperienced family he wouldn't live. The seller said he was 6 weeks, but I wonder. Anyways he couldn't eat well so I syrnge fed him & now he is on a spoon. I still have to water down the food into mush. He tries suckling constantly. He started eating t-shirts. I don't have a solution unfortunately & can't find one. He has another ferret to play with but eats cloth & socks too.

Answer
At 6 weeks, often earlier, ferrets are able to eat mushy food and meat.  I see a lot of young ferrets chew cloth probably because it feels good and they are still testing the world for what is edible.  If they do it later in life, past 4 months, then I would worry about their health first.  If all checked out well, next would be stimulation.  The reason I suggest Bob Church's information on ferret enrichment is that it is geared towards ferrets.  His scent, visual, auditory etc ideas are all based in the ferrets natural history.  Time out of the cage isn't enough.  They need "natural" things to do.