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Post by aurra on Dec 28, 2019 17:00:45 GMT -5
If it was one I would say its just an irritation but it's atleast 5 out of 7. They are shaking their heads and itching around their ears. They are also itching their bodies but that might just be itchiness. I can't find any fleas. Their ears look clean and I see no mites. I can't find the problem. My house has gotten a little colder and dryer from the winter. Could that be it? My boyfriend is going to help me get a better look when he get home. Any tips of why they are doing this and what to look for helps. My poor babies are running out of bed and shaking their heads and scratching. Also do I have to see a vet for mites to get ear drops? And if not. Is it harmful if they don't have mites and I just do it as a precaution because I see nothing else? They seem very bothered right now. Added: I have no other pets and I changed nothing about their food or bedding except a new cat tower. On Dec 22 I got them a carpeted pink cat tower from Walmart. It's the tube with the 2 cubbies, one on top of the other. It smells funny but it smells like every cat tower I've ever seen or any new rug I've ever bought.
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Post by Sherry on Dec 29, 2019 9:58:31 GMT -5
I would take them in and have them looked at. It is a toxin given to kill mites, so I'd not do anything unless they actually have them.
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Post by aurra on Dec 29, 2019 11:43:34 GMT -5
Ok thanks. I really see nothing in the ears. They all have clean ears. I think my vet is on vacation. Is this an emergency? I really hate the other vets around me. They don't know much about ferrets and I don't want them to give me the wrong prescription. It's already happened once.
The are also scratch their bodies. Its not a lot but it's like a panic scratch. Our house is really dry though. My skin is dry and feel dehydrated a lot. My boyfriend just set up out humidifiers yesterday morning.
They're not screaming or crying. And theres no smell or wax. Should I give it a few days? Is there an oil I can put on their skin?
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Post by bishop24 on Dec 29, 2019 13:00:58 GMT -5
Try giving them an oatmeal bath to help with the itching and I think the humidifiers are a good idea if it’s dry skin!
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Post by Sherry on Dec 30, 2019 10:01:32 GMT -5
Humidifier, oatmeal soak, about a half tsp of salmon oil a week will help with dry skin
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Post by aurra on Jan 1, 2020 14:15:10 GMT -5
I think that it's just the dryness. They seem to be doing better. Other than the blockage scare that I had yesterday. Got a big poop this morning though! Yay poops lol
I am going to watch their ears closely still.
Is the salmon oil just oil from health stores? I was just giving them orijen fish freeze dried fish treats but they all the sudden started hating them. I went through many batch numbers and nothing. I'm having a hard time with treats.
My 1 ferret that hated everything actually liked the banana treats that came with my Kijiji baby. I just wanted to try them to see if he understands that other things can be food lol. And my runty guy just licks them 😂 I think he thinks it's his banana medication that he went crazy for.
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Post by Charlie on Jan 1, 2020 15:38:52 GMT -5
You can get salmon oil from the pet store in the cat section.
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Post by unclejoe on Jan 1, 2020 16:10:36 GMT -5
We've used a product called BioGroom for ear mites with good success. I'm pretty sure we got it at Petco.I don't know how much experience you have with ferrets, but if one has motes it's only a matter of timme til they all get infected. I had one ferret who was a wax factory, but never had mites. I had another that had mites and was found to have a yeast infection in his ear. His ears looked ok but he was always scratching at one so we took him in.
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Post by aurra on Jan 2, 2020 14:00:19 GMT -5
I have some experience. It's been 2 years now and they've all seen the vet but I've never had this itching problem. I can't tell if theyre itching their ears or necks. They'll be sleeping and then run out shaking their head and start scratching. But they are biting their butts and tummies on top of the ears. I see no mites. I'm checking everyone all day. Their ears look normal. There no smell or any obvious pain when I touch it. I cant find fleas either.
Right now I'm trying to figure out how to do an oatmeal bath. I don't have a working tub and my kitchen sink doesn't have a plug. On top of this problem, I need to use bottled water to bathe them. My water has a lot of iron and irritates my skin. I don't want to get worse. I have 7 and I don't think I can do them all at once.
I was thinking of using a Rubbermaid that can fit them 2 or 3 of them and fill it to just 1.5" of water and oatmeal. In a second smaller bin, one by one rinse them off and change the water every time. I can get my boyfriend and stepson to help me.
Update: I did the bath. The key was to let them make a mess lol. I'm hoping this works
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Post by aurra on Jan 7, 2020 12:10:32 GMT -5
It's ear mites.
I have a liquid that goes on their backs. I have to do them one at a time and quarantine them for a few hours lol. It's going to be a long day. At least I have 2 quarantine cages
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Post by Sherry on Jan 8, 2020 6:30:52 GMT -5
You are also going to have to treat every animal in the house, otherwise they'll keep coming back.
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Post by aurra on Jan 8, 2020 8:03:32 GMT -5
You are also going to have to treat every animal in the house, otherwise they'll keep coming back. I only have the ferrets. 😊 They get all my attention
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Post by bishop24 on Jan 11, 2020 19:06:09 GMT -5
It's ear mites. I have a liquid that goes on their backs. I have to do them one at a time and quarantine them for a few hours lol. It's going to be a long day. At least I have 2 quarantine cages Do you mind if I ask how you figured it out? Did you see the lil buggers or was it a vet that found them? You seem like you were pretty vigilant with checking them so now I’m paranoid that I won’t notice if my guys get them!
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Post by aurra on Jan 11, 2020 19:22:12 GMT -5
It's ear mites. I have a liquid that goes on their backs. I have to do them one at a time and quarantine them for a few hours lol. It's going to be a long day. At least I have 2 quarantine cages Do you mind if I ask how you figured it out? Did you see the lil buggers or was it a vet that found them? You seem like you were pretty vigilant with checking them so now I’m paranoid that I won’t notice if my guys get them! My guys just seemed more itchy than normal. I would see them run out of there couch and shake their heads and start scratching like no tomorrow. What threw me off is they were scratching their heads and then biting their butts so I wasn't sure. It wasn't until after I made the vet appointment that I started seeing wax. I never saw any mites but when I went to the vet, they swabbed the ears of the ferret I brought and found eggs in the wax through a microscope. Ear mites aren't necessarily horrible. You need to treat them but it's not like blockage. You don't need to catch it right away. If you see a lot of scratching and head shaking, just keep watch of their ears. If you start seeing a lot of black wax then you should see the vet. Edit: the head shaking was like when a dog gets wet. If your ferret is just shaking everywhere, go see a vet. We think it came in with the baby girl we picked up November 25th. We got her off Kijiji at 5 months old because her teenage owner got her for her birthday and she smells bad 😂 i love her... Stink, ear mites and all. I understand how you feel though. I'm a helicopter mom and one single weird poop will freak me out. I have a camera set up in my ferret room so I can see who made the weird poop and then track them lol.
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Post by aurra on Mar 4, 2020 20:51:39 GMT -5
You are also going to have to treat every animal in the house, otherwise they'll keep coming back. I had Revolution medication for them. Do you know if one round of the medicine would be enough? They haven't come in contact with any animals and they seem to be having itchy ears again. The vet and the internet said I should only need to do it once and all the ear mite should be gone. 😖 My vet is on leave for a bit so I'll have to go to a vet that's not experienced with ferrets and explain to them that I need an ear swab and 7 medications lol if they keep up the itching.
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