From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2004-12-09 20:02:43 UTC
Subject: RE: Deworming
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <3193731.1102622563493.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Remember, too, that like human children some ferret kits get teething runs. I have no idea why this happens but some infants just plain are prone ot having runs when they are teething. Our current kit just reached 12 weeks and his final teeth are now stopping their growth. Teething runs... Not anything more.
BTW, the paperwork which comes with petstore ferrets tends to be an approximation and when it is off it is usually (but not always) off in the direction of the ferrets seeming to be a week to 2 weeks older. We've been very pleased to find kits whose dental eruption (which is accurate) arriving at around 8 weeks of age in stores here recently (since it is a safer age than 6 weeks for that fo rthe ferrets themselves) but their paperwork did have them as being a bit older than they were.
Here are the dental eruption ages of the adult teeth replacing the baby teeth
from the vet text _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret_. These are approximate but the variation isn't large. Incisors (the front-most teeth which they largely use for grooming and gentle nips which are also part of grooming) are too variable and not mentioned.
Day 50 (just over 7 weeks): the canines (the conical teeth which are used for fighting and display) start to erupt and so does the lower 1st molar (the broad back teeth)
Day 53 (about 7 and 1/2 weeks): the upper 1st molar
Day 60 (about 8 and 1/2 weeks): three upper premolars start to erupt, and so does the most forward lower premolar (which technically is P2 due to some ancestral teeth no longer found in ferrets -- or in us for that matter) The premolars are the teeth between the canines and molars.
Day 67 (about 9 and 1/2 weeks) the next of the lower premolars (P3) begins to erupt
Day 74 (about 10 and 1/2 weeks) the next lower premolar (P4) begins as does the last tooth in the arcade of the mandible, the lower second molar
That's when they begin erupting and then it takes a little time for them to come in. Canines sometime have a bit of trouble continuing to come in properly if the needle-like baby canines don't shed well or if that leads to one turning on its side and becoming trapped.
Also, never forget ECE:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/ECE/ECE.html
Yes, there are a number of past posts from vets on the rarity of many worm types in ferrets and on many worms being species specific. Tapeworms are an exception to the rarity statement according to a few of those posts (Search under worms with posts from Dr. Williams.) but not a health concern. Of course, as far as worms go the serious concern is heartworm, especially in areas where those are common such as Florida.