From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2002-04-19 09:46:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Behavioral changes
Hi, Christa, and everyone else,
> I've been through two spring seasons with her, and this is truly far
> In addition to the morning biting, she has also been
> much more mouthy during our general daily playtime as well, both with
> me and her 1.5 year old brother. Anybody experienced this before? Am
> I just being paranoid?
I don't think you're being paranoid. It sounds like aggressive
play/behaviour. There are a number of things that cause additional
aggressiveness, one of them being adrenal disease. I've had a ferret
(Pertwee) show this symptom before losing any hair and another (Romana)
never lost any hair at all. I'm not saying adrenal is the cause, and
I'm not a vet in any case. What I am saying is that a visit to a vet to
find out *why* is important.
Oh, if you're concerned about adrenal, here are other symptoms to look
for:
-hair loss
-swollen vulva
-weight loss (beyond the normal springtime amount)
What order they show up in (and if the show up at all) depends on the
individual ferret. Again, I want to stress that there could be other
explanations as well, so I'd definitely take her to the vet.
All the best,
Caity
[Quick Sukie note: we have also seen weight gain, redistribution of weight so that more of a pear shap is seen, skin problems, treating other ferrets -- or my toes -- as if they were kits with excessive grooming, mounting of my leg complete with grip, piddling on another ferret, urinary problems, or vaginal infections, among other things. Some ferrets don't show symptoms for a long time, and many will have only one or two symptoms. As the world shoould know by now -- LOL! -- I am not a vet.]