Please tell me that ferrets can dream....

[Deleted]

So I just had my first experience with sleeping dead ferret syndrome (I'm pretty sure I butchered the name ;D) but what I wasn't prepared for was that well Olivia was limp in my hands she started thrashing and kicking her legs and making squeaking noises. I gently petted her nose a few times, she woke up and is now fine and running around.... But I need someone to reassure me and tell me that ferrets can dream and that that wasn't a seizure I just witnessed...

I'm pretty sure she was just dreaming, but I just needed to make sure

[fearless]

I'm pretty sure they do. I remember when my dog did that for the first time, I felt the same. Scared. It's pretty odd. But I would say they do. They dream of dooking wildly and war dancing.

[katt]

Yes. Kenai has bad dreams sometimes. I hear him cry in his sleep relatively often, and on occasion he will be totally asleep and then out of nowhere just FLY out of bed like he's being chased by the devil and I have to catch him and calm him down. Makes me wonder what he is dreaming of. And it makes me want to hunt down those smelly Marshalls people and give them a piece of my mind.

[Deleted]

it looked very similar to a dog dreaming fearless, so I wasnt too worried.

Wow that's crazy huricanekatt, ferret nightmares sound awful!

It's just so weird when she was so limp in my hands and thrashing at the same time. I think she was having Marshall nightmares too

[Heather]

What, baby ferrets having nightmares, now why I wonder....ripped away from momma fuzz and siblings, subjected to bright lights, pain. Dumped into a box with a bunch of strangers, given hard biscuits that cuts their tender mouths and hurts their teeth.....no leave it, I'm not going there .
On a more scientific version. Remember their tender nervous system is still very immature and would be going through many changes. Deep sleep is necessary, an immature nervous system twitches and reacts to signals that it's still not quite up to receiving all the messages. I find that when observing Minion, I remember Napoleon doing the same thing. Vocalizations, twitching, stretching, rapid eye and tongue movements, running legs and of course the "dead sleep". Dead sleep is difficult enough when dealing with the older ferrets, to hold the limp, still form of a baby ferret is terrifying even to many of us old hands. That is probably what you were dealing with. If you find that your little one isn't responding correctly, or sleeping too much or not eating enough then please don't hesitate to take her to a vet. It's always much easier to take to find out that you're just an overanxious ferrant than to find out that you're little one is actually ill.
ciao

[Sherry]

Lucrezia used to do that as well, carpetsharks. She also used to scream in her sleep, poor wee mite Now, watching them suckle in their sleep when over 2 years of age, I know they are likely having a good dream

[Deleted]

It was pretty scary Heather, even though I knew what was happening

They both have a vet appointment thursday night so I'm going to mention it and just make sure they check out 100%.

Awww that's so sad Sherry I'm glad to hear that have good dreams too!!!!

[miamiferret2]

Sonny doesn't have those whimpering /squealy ferretmares.
He alleges that he was in the "penthouse suite" at marshall farms and that he had his own butler. sometimes he twitches his little arms and gives these deep sighs in his sleep though.

[Heather]

Fun-Go used to scream in his sleep, he'd also wake up and bite. Just lunge and bite. I don't want to know what he's dreaming about. He doesn't seem to do that any more. When you pick him up now he curls into you and snuggles, before he would go rigid and do the snaking head thing with teeth just going. You could hear the air bites....sometimes if he was on his game, you would hear
ciao

[Deleted]

Kahlua does that all the time. Before we got our apartment we were renting a room in someones house and her cage wasnt too far from our bed and I would constantly wake up in the middle of the night because she would be fussing up a storm in her sleep. One time she was thrashing so much she woke Mojito up and before he was even un-groggified, she almost knocked him clear out of the hammock! She may be tiny but shes stronger than she looks, lol. I wouldnt worry

[crazylady]

I wrote this many years ago after a visit to a pet store this is why I believe they have night mares I hope no one is offended by my words

Ferret Trade

We wait unseen in airport crates,
Waiting to learn what will be our fate,
Many litters crammed inside,
No where to run no where to hide,
The crate is moving were on our way,
How long has it been a week a day?
The air grows thin a smell abounds,
Dieing friends lie all around,
There life is over before it began ,
All for the sake of a breeder farm,
The journeys over the lid removed,
were placed in a glass tank and given food,
But the food we are given I cant eat,
Its hard and dry and hurts my teeth,
My heart is screaming for my mothers milk,
And to snuggle up safe in her coat of silk,
I am one of the many in petstores around,
Whos life will end in a hole in the ground,
Torn from mothers who scream in pain,
To make plenty money is the breeders aim,
I am four weeks old my body rebels,
My stomache grows bloated and begins to swell,
feces runs from my painfull insides,
I just want it over I want to die,
A human stops she lifts me out,
she talks to a another and carrys me out,
she treats me kindly and gives me food I can eat,
soon I am well and on my feet,
But what of the others who eases there pain,
Or does this keep happening again and again,
I was lucky from h*ll I was saved,
But how many like me lie in unmarked graves!

Crazy Lady

[Deleted]

It makes me feel much better to hear about all of your experiences with ferret nightmares ;D but poor little babies! What awful things they must dream about

Sonny sounds like he lucked out miami, sighing in his sleep, I wondering what's he's dreaming about ;D

[Heather]

Very well said....heartbreaking but true.
ciao

[Deleted]

Aww crazylady your poem is so sad!!!

[miamiferret2]

crazylady, that is so sad.
by the way, can you tell me your real name, because i hate to refer to someone as "crazylady"! lol.

Sonny's dreams mostly involve his plans for world domination.


sometimes I see his little tongue flickering like he's drinking water in his sleep. he's strange.