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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2015 2:28:29 GMT -5
i no you cant wash a ferret very often, at least once a month. u how often can you let them swim??
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Post by raynebc on May 23, 2015 6:21:54 GMT -5
As much as they want in plain water.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2015 6:50:48 GMT -5
Hey just wondering will plain water make them smell more or does that only happen if you wash them?
My babe Lafie seems to like to try to play in the playroom water dish haha
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Post by FireAngel on May 23, 2015 8:16:38 GMT -5
Plain water should really do neither make it better or worse. The smell gets worse after a bath because we have washed away their natural oils, the stuff that makes them less itchy and gives a nice shiny coat and gives the little smell, and so their body works double time to replace it.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2015 8:58:54 GMT -5
Mine love the tub. I also bought a small plastic kiddie pool for them. Since they like the tub so much, I bought some inexpensive bath rugs (not the rubber backed) and a few towels. I drape these over the upstairs tub and they can jump in and go under the towels and play around. Then I keep a few beach toys, like a sand pail that can be filled with water. They snorkel and pull the pail around. That gets everyone wet. It's humid here, so I wash the rugs and towels alot or they smell like mildew. If you plan on taking them swimming outside, avoid chlorine pools and lakes and such, that might have parasites. That doesn't leave much outdoor swimming for my area, but maybe yours is different.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2015 9:06:55 GMT -5
Mine have a smell when they're wet, like dogs, if you're familiar with that. It goes away once they dry. My 2 waardies love playing with water though!
Sent from my Nexus 6 using proboards
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2015 4:33:18 GMT -5
Ah ok thanks guys! Haha it makes sense that they get ' we dog smell' when wet , it was raining when I took my babus to the vet and Lafie doesnt like being in crate so I carried him and he ended up getting a little wet and smelly haha.
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Post by RedSky on May 24, 2015 8:34:44 GMT -5
Because of Mako's current toileting problems (aka going everywhere) he has a 'bath' pretty much every morning. And if he's laid on one of the others, they will need a bath too. The old couple who lived here previously had the bath pulled out (couldn't get into it) and replaced it with a shower and a bidet. Having never had one before it's been left to collect dust, but it's the perfect size for a ferret bath! I don't use any soap, shampoo or anything, I have used oatmeal (in a sock) but it wasn't popular and I didn't like them drinking the water them. Poor Bolin has just had his first shampoo bath since coming to me, a medicated shampoo prescribed by the vet. Even then she said to only do him once, repeating it will cause his itchy skin to become even worse.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2015 13:06:22 GMT -5
I was thinking of taking my ferrets to the lake too(Lake Michigan). This time of the year here it's not too hot yet, so they wouldn't get sick from the heat. My Leela loves to swim in the bathtub, so I thought it would be fun for them to dig in the sand at the beach and swim in the water. Should I be concerned about parasites and algae?
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2015 13:34:46 GMT -5
Does it have a bad reputation as far as cleanliness is concerned? I would not let her get in water---- afraid she would drink some. What about playing in sand and bringing a few gallons of water and a cheap plastic tub? Does a lot of dogs frequent the beach? It is terrible what people have done to our lakes and streams >
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Post by Heather on May 24, 2015 14:18:09 GMT -5
I don't know where your beaches are but the little they'd drink isn't any worse than what you're dog would drink when swimming. Obviously, if the beach is shut down do to high fecal counts you may not want to let them swim but normally it shouldn't matter. Remember these little guys handle bacteria a lot better than we do....chemicals that's a different story, so swimming off a nuclear plant might not be a good idea but normal beach swimming shouldn't be an issue. Do watch out for dogs and I certainly wouldn't let them play around if there were dogs on the beach, for some reason people feel that dogs on a beach don't need to be leashed. ciao
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2015 21:28:19 GMT -5
ferrets can pick up parasites from dog feces. So if dogs frequent that area a lot --i would think twice.
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Post by Heather on May 24, 2015 21:54:28 GMT -5
Only if they're in the habit of consuming the feces....worms, giardia and coccidia being the common ones. Avoiding these will usually keep your ferret from being at risk. ciao
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2015 1:53:08 GMT -5
im glad we can let her swim in the bath, it has become a nightly ritual for us now, she has a warm bath where shes swims until she wants out then we make a game out of drying and by the time she is dry she is tired and ready for bed
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Post by unclejoe on May 25, 2015 9:43:18 GMT -5
Just a tip... when we bathe we use conditioner. We had a bad outbreak of fleas a couple years ago and were bathing them weekly, so we started using conditioner and there was no big increase in ferret smell.
We emptied the leaves/paper out of the kiddie pool and put in an inch or two of water, So far we don't have any swimmers...
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