Another question...or 2

[ellebelle]

Good evening

So Skinny Jimmy has been with us a couple of weeks...cheeky lil'devil seems to have settled in pretty well.
Day 4 of being almost fully on a Frankenprey diet and FINALLY let us 'wrestle' with him!


My question is when he is out of the cage he is making a near constant noise...similar to a low level chatter/peeping, is that good?
He also seems to 'bark' to get attention??

Also, how much itching is normal?

[Corvidophile]

The noise is called dooking, and it’s normal ferret chatter! It can be good or bad, it depends on the ferret, most dook when they’re interested in things or happy but some dook out of annoyance. If he seems fine, it’s probably happy dooking. Ferrets get some mighty itches and stop everything to scratch them on a regular basis, but if you notice it happening too much for comfort you may have him checked for bugs at a vet’s office. Any particular focus on the ears? Ear mites are a common problem.

[ellebelle]

Hi Corvidophile

Thanks for the reply...
I have decided he is a bit of a 'lad'...hooligan might be more accurate as Skinny seems quite independent, nosey, determined and not cuddly! Hubby built a couple of wood barriers to stop him having full access to every room and Skinny threw a major tantrum at that...still tries to move them and gets stroppy and frustrated.

It appears that Hubby is the wrestle buddy of choice, probably abit more ruff than us girls...if his toys are tidied away, the next morning he has to do a whole circuit to check what's been interfered with! And if he could talk THAT is where he would be swearing and giving us back-chat!!

I have given him a good looking over and he is in good shape, no signs of unwanted life!
No focus on his ears...so i'm thinking maybe change of diet?

[Corvidophile]

Could be a food allergy, yeah. What proteins are new that weren’t in his old diet?

[Charlie]

Sounds like a typical ferret!! They do scratch a lot. I thought the same thing when I brought mine home too.

Yup, sounds like he was dooking. Some ferrets do it lots while others aren't very vocal at all.

Ferrets like challenges and they will keep trying until they figure something out. We always have to try and stay ahead of them! They know how to find trouble! LOL

[unclejoe]

Sounds like he's doing well. They do like to scratch. They sometimes bolt out of a dead sleep just to have a good scratch. And most of them will walk the perimeter when they get out of bed to see if anything has changed. even if they lose their sight.