New baby keeps sneezing...

Question
We have recently purchased a new baby boy from Petco.  He is full of energy and loves to play (we have two others which he has to be supervised around), but he gets these sneezing fits.  He will sit there and sneeze for about 15 seconds until I go over and wipe his nose and face a bit and usually offer him water.  I think it has something to do with dust.  Is it normal for baby ferrets to sneeze so bad?  He also drinks and eats ALOT. Ive read that is normal, but how much would over the top be?  He drinks alot and so far has thrown up once.  I know that is something to watch out for, but could he be overeating?   Am I just being a nervous new mom or is it something I should look into?

Answer
Hi Ashley:

First, the eating and drinking - I don't think that is a problem. It is possible he could overeat and make himself sick. If it becomes a habit, I'd worry, but not just once or twice - he's a little guy trying to find his limits :-)

As far as the sneezing - is he around anything with dust? Does he get underneath furniture that doesn't get vacuumed often?   Maybe you are using ANY type of wood chips or litter that is dusty?  Ferrets should sleep in cotton baby blankets or even T-shirts, sweats, etc; never in wood chips. Litter *should* ideally be compressed newspaper pellets such as Yesterday's News, but do watch as I had one ferret who would eat the pellets! I think probably the most common reason for sneezing in baby ferrets is a dusty house or rooting in the litterbox and getting a snoot full of dust.  Hopefully a safer litter and a good vacuuming will help.  If he does start sneezing, use a damp paper towel to wipe his face and nose, then try to figure out where he's getting into the dust.  Some sneezing is normal, as baby ferrets stick their little faces into everything to see what it is.

A ferret who is eating a lot and pooping a lot is a healthy ferret - hope this will give you some peace of mind. Be double careful of ferretproofing with a new baby in the house; they can often RE-discover things like rubberbands, pencil erasers, even tiny things that other ferrets may ignore. IMHO that's the biggest concern with a baby in the house.  

It sounds like you're a good mommy - keep up the good work and give those babies a kiss from me.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers