ferret stress

Question
QUESTION: i just got a ferret and he is older im not sure someone found him and i got him, but he is on the thin side and he has thin hair on his tail near the tip not the butt area, but im not sure if he is stressed or if its the adrenal gland, what do you think it could be?

ANSWER: Hi Brittney,

Hair loss does generally indicate adrenal disease but it isn't always adrenal disease. Can you send me a picture of it? Either through here or if you want, you can change the question to private and I'll give you my email address and you can email me the picture. It should let you post a picture of it on here, though. Then we will go from there!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews

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body and tail   QUESTION: this is another picture of his tail

Answer
Hi again, Brittney,

It does look like it might be a case of blackheads on the tail, or "rat tail", as some people call it. Some people believe it may be a sign of stress on the ferret because they start to overproduce oils on their tail and that is what causes the ferret to break out. Here is some more info. Just scroll down until you see "rat tail".

http://www.ferretnews.com/issues/ferret-news-95.html

You should see the hair come back in after a week or two and if you don't notice a change, you should see the vet right away! I hope this helps and if you need anything else, as always, please don't hesitate to ask!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews