Baby Ferret Chewed Hammock Down

Question
Just a quick question about my 10 week old baby ferret, Smokey. We have a hammock sleeper for her in her cage, which she really only sleeps in, we have her out alot. We have had her about 2 weeks now,but now she seems to get mad about being in her cage at night. Last night she was in her cage chewing at the wire cage and she also chewed her hammock right down...she went to each 4 strings that held it up and chewed them down. I thought this was very strange because she seemed to love it. Do you think she might just not like going in her cage now? It was like 1 am when I put her in (she was sleeping on me before that)and she didn't syop until about 3:30. Her health seems to be fine, she's eating Marshall brand food, she goes to the bathroom just fine and drinks water. She loves to run around  checking everything out too. Do alot of baby ferrets chew these things down???? I'm not sure if I should get her another one or just let her sleep on it at the bottom of the cage. Thanks Amy & Smokey

Answer
Hi Amy:

Sounds like your little Smokey was very angry that you put her back in her cage!  She was obviously very comfortable sleeping with you and I think she figured if she chewed her hammock down, you might take her back to bed with you again. LOL  Since she is young, she is probably used to sleeping with other ferrets - until you brought her home - so, when you put her in her cage at night - it's kind of like being punished to her, like being put all alone in her room!  

Smokey *should* get used to being in her cage at night. It's the safest place for her to sleep. I have heard of ferrets chewing their hammocks down before. She may or may not do it again. The thing we have to worry about - both with the one she chewed down already - AND with any one she *might* have in the future (and MAYBE she even did it to one BEFORE you had her too!) is that the fabric and any pieces of toys she may get ahold of and chew up, will STAY inside her intestines and can cause intestinal blockages, which can KILL her.  So.....we MUST get a 'ferret laxative' down her to make SURE all pieces of the hammock are moved OUT of her intestines.

To make sure her tummy and intestines are all cleaned out, you will need a bottle of a product called VETASYL (a fiber laxative for dogs and cats that you can get at almost any pet store online or in person).  It works great for ferrets IF you mix it just right, so be sure to follow the directions here really closely, okay?

Take ONE CAPSULE of Vetasyl, open it and put the contents into a small bowl (toss the capsule itself away). Add six ounces of warm water and TWO LEVEL TEASPOONSFUL of UNCLE JIM'S DUK SOUP MIX - stir well with your finger so you know it's not too hot for your ferret to drink...but it IS warm. Get your ferret to drink AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE - ALL, if she will.  Keep trying, rewarm it if you have to, add a little Ferretone, add a little peanut butter, whatever you need to do so that your ferret eats/drinks this. She MUST get it down. Since she's tiny, she may only drink about half of it - that will probably be okay - just make sure she is FULL and has drank all she possibly can.

REPEAT 24 hours later.  Then REPEAT AGAIN 24 HOURS AFTER THAT for a TOTAL OF THREE TREATMENTS IN THREE DAYS.

During these three days, you will be watching your ferrets poops. Remove the poops from the litterbox with paper towels; then spread the poops out on the paper towels with popsicle sticks or something similar so you can SEE WHAT COMES OUT IN THE FERRET'S POOP.  The reason to watch this closely is that you want to be SURE that you get WHOLE PIECES and that EVERY PIECE IS ACCOUNTED FOR.  Hopefully you saved the hammock that she chewed down from the hooks.  

Over the next three days, you should see lots of pieces of hammock coming out of your ferret.  The best recommendation I can give you is IF SHE IS STILL PASSING ANY HAMMOCK PIECES ON THE THIRD DAY, DO A FOURTH DAY OF VETASYL/UNCLE JIM'S DUK SOUP TREATMENT.   IF THERE IS ANY HAMMOCK IN HER POOP THE FOURTH DAY, DO A FIFTH DAY OF TREATMENT. Hopefully that makes sense.  You want to do the treatment for ONE MORE DAY AFTER the hammock stops coming out just to BE SURE it is all out.

When the treatments are finished, your ferret should be passing nice FAT poops and she should continue to pass fat poops.  Instead of the sticky ferret laxatives and hairball treatments, I like to use this 3-day treatment and find it's very effective and good for the ferrets.  I've seen too many ferrets get intestinal blockages when they receive petroleum-based hairball remedies regularly, so I just don't trust those anymore.  This type of treatment is so much more effective.  Once this problem is finished, you can do a 3-day hairball treatment about once a month and it should be plenty to keep her digestive system in good shape.  IF she tends to get into a lot of things or chew things she shouldn't, you can repeat the 3-day treatment at any time and it won't hurt her one bit. You can do it every week if you need to and it won't hurt her....but it WILL keep her from having an intestinal blockage, which will not only save her life, but it will save you a LOT of worry....AND a lot of money for surgery!  

If she does tend to chew on things to get her way, maybe it would be best to put a bed on the floor of her cage for her to sleep in until she grows up just a little. Be very careful also about any little toys in her cage. Some ferrets are just more prone to chew than others. You will also need to watch her more carefully when she's out playing - double, no triple ferretproof everything! LOL  It would be a good idea to get her some Ferret "N-Bones" and/or some "Cheweasels" - they are great because they are both made of gelatin-type ingredients that dissolve once ingested, so they pose absolutely NO threat of blockage at all, but they still give them something to chew on.  ESPECIALLY inside her cage at night, put her to bed with something healthy to chew on and a bed that's on the floor and see if that doesn't help until she adjusts to sleeping by herself.  Sounds like you're a good mommy.  I wouldn't stop letting her in bed with you - she just needs to learn that when it's time for her to go in HER bed, she gets a 'chewie' and has to be a big girl.  Eventually she will be okay with that - the "chewie" might help.  Also, be sure you don't use rawhide chews OR pig ears, etc, as those are never ever recommended for ferrets...ONLY the gelatin type chew items that dissolve.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers