Otto and Runt will shred!

[Deleted]

He's adorable!

He looks much larger then my 8 week old boys. O.o

[otto]

Thank you all. We feel like our family is much richer now with this new edition and can't wait for the future times together.

But oh dear Sherry! is it common thing for male ferrets to be deaf?

I did some loud clapping and whistles just now to see if Runt reacts, but nothing. How would you go bouts figuring it out?

[Deleted]

Deafness isn't a matter of being male, but it is linked to a gene that is really common with ferrets these days. There is a gene linked to "neural crest disorder", known in humans (and casually in ferrets, though it's not officially correct) as Waardenburg's Syndrome.

The gene that causes Waardenburg's Syndrome has a few different ways it can express themselves. A ferret with this gene may have some, all, or none of these expressions. A lot of blaze, panda, dark-eyed white, and even other patterned ferrets have this gene.

If Runt has this gene, it could cause him to have deafness, since deafness is one of the gene's possible expressions. My boy Fenton has a white stripe on his head, and is deaf, which are 2 expressions of this gene. One way I was able to tell Fenton is deaf was by making various noises behind his head where he can't see, and noting that he didn't respond. But an even better way was the "vacuum test". I placed him near a vacuum cleaner and while he wasn't watching me, I plugged it in so it turned on. The loud noise should have surprised or scared him, but he didn't really react at all. I tried the same test with my girl Fiona who hears, and he just about jumped through the roof!

So, I know for sure my Fenton is deaf. Runt could be deaf. What does this mean? Not much. Deafness is fairly common in ferrets these days, and they don't seem to be bothered by it at all. A deaf ferret doesn't know he or she is deaf, and it doesn't seem to slow them down or limit them in any way, as far as I can tell. My Fenton is a great ferret, so playful and smart and cuddly.

Being deaf is no problem for the ferret, but it MIGHT pose a couple of challenges for you. For one thing, if he's deaf, you can't use sounds to get his attention, or train him, or call him. Not a huge problem. You might be able to instead flicker the lights on and off, or pound on the floor (vibration), to get his attention. For training, hand signals work great. My boy Fenton does tricks with hand signals. He doesn't need to hear, to know what I want
Here he is doing a trick on my hand signal. He was still learning, he's even better at it now:


The other thing that COULD possibly pose a difficulty for you, is that some deafies have biting issues. The theory is that because they can't hear their humans or ferret friends cry out in pain, they don't know they are biting too hard when they play, and so they don't always learn to be gentle when playing. If Runt had this problem, you would probably already know it by now though Lots of deaf ferrets struggle with this, but they can be taught. I didn't happen to have this problem with my Fenton though.

Hope that helps

P.S. - Just to complicate things further, it is also possible for a ferret to be deaf without having the Waardenburg gene... As long as the deafness isn't caused by ear mites or some kind of outstanding health problem, the best policy is to just not worry about it, I guarantee Runt won't worry about it if he is deaf

[Sherry]

As for deafness and Waardenburg's Syndrome- one of my marked DEW's is deaf, but not WS. One is deaf AND WS. A panda is deaf and WS, and a silver is WS, but not deaf ;D
Oh- and the really horrible part? He'll lose that stripe by the time he's a year old Marked DEW's roan out to full DEW's. I miss my babies stripes!

[katt]

Awwwwww!!!! WANTS!!!!!!! He is sooo cute! Welcome and please share more pics of your little cute!

[krissy]

Hi everyone! I am the other member of Runt and Otto's family. I decided I should join the board as I have many questions of my own and really appreciate how responsive you all are. Thank you!
As Otto mentioned we are pretty sure he is deaf. He wasn't very nippy when we first brought him home but since he has been putting on weight (yeah!) and becoming more active he is definitely getting more nippy. I was originally holding him by the scruff and hissing like an annoyed ferret but now that he is deaf I suppose that isnt going to work. I was wondering what your best trick have been for training a nippy deaf ferret. He is responding okay to a little shake when I hold him by the scruff but I am not sure if that is the most effective. Someone has mentioned that they tap them on the nose but that only seems to encourage his biting.
Suggestions? Thanks again everyone.

krissy

ps- I am not sure how to search the board yet so if this is already a post I apologize and feel free to point me in the right direction.

[Deleted]

Hi Krissy!

No nose tapping or flicking, this won't help things at all! You don't want to do that for sure!

I have not personally dealt with many biting issues but what little I did deal with, I liked the "time out" method. You get a small pet carrier (not their regular cage, don't want them to associate their cage with punishment) and when they bite too hard, they go into time out for 3 minutes, every time. Consistency is key. It shouldn't ever be more than 3 minutes though.

There is also a "bite hold" where if they bite too hard, you basically pin them on their back (gently but so they can't move or do anything). It gets the message across to some ferrets.

Just regular old scruffing works for some ferrets, he's young so it might work.

I'm sure others will have better or more detailed advice, I just wanted to make sure and chime in right away that nose flicking / tapping / any kind of striking is not the way

Another thing to think about, this is just a suggestion and maybe it doesn't apply, but how hard is he nipping? Are they just little play nips, are they OK, or are they too painful? Just wondering. Some people freak out when a ferret barely nips them, but that's how they play. My female always nips me when we play rowdy, but never does it hard enough to scratch the skin or hurt me. Just a thought, maybe this doesn't apply to you, just wouldn't want you to think he was trying to hurt you if it was just a soft playful nip

But if he's nipping too hard for your comfort, then definitely you can and should work on correcting that, and there is tons of information and help about that on this forum! There are several techniques that have worked for others, if he's not a problem case then it might even be as simple as just ignoring him and stopping the play session when he starts getting too nippy.

Welcome to the forum!!

[krissy]

Thanks for the fast response. No tapping, got it!
He will come up and nip at my fingers and then start chewing them. It is not necessarily associated with playing. Someone suggested an association with teething. If I dont get him to stop, his nip will turn more into a chomp. It is different than what I like to call the "freak out bit" which seems to happen if he is mad (ie. he was exploring the bathroom and I proceeded to take him to the living room). This biting is pretty uncommon.
Now that we know he is deaf we have been careful to make sure that he sees us before we pick him up so he doesnt get startled. That is helping too.

What I am mainly wondering about it this nipping/chewing on my fingers.

Thanks again You guys are great.

[Sherry]

At his age he is definitely teething substitute an appropriate chew toy, like a chicken wing
For training my deafies, I also used the time out method. First one was a revenge biter- as soon as you released her from the scruff, she'd turn around an chomp whatever part she could get hold of in a temper tantrum. Second one was abused, so scruffing was definitely out. It terrified her.
The most important thing though is consistency. Pick a method and stick with it. Don't switch back and forth, as it only confuses them.
The big reason for no nose flicking is they have a TON if nerve endings in their nose. It's actually very painful for them when that's done. And causing pain isn't the way to earn their trust

[Deleted]

MORE PICTURES

I have a deaf marked ferret. The best test I used was the "vaccum while they're sleeping" test. Olivia knows hand signals. I taught her to come towards wiggling fingers by using treats!

[Heather]

What an adorable wee one. It's too bad he's deaf but not a big deal. I have and had a number of deafies. Nipping is a common problem with kits in general but deafies in particular. I use the time out method. Kits because they're taken from their mommas way too young, don't have manners. Nip training would normally be done by momma and siblings, but because baby fuzzes are taken way too young (4 and 5 weeks) from mom they don't get any training towards how to be nice. That means you have to train them. Deafies have a bigger problem in that they can't hear you yelp or call out in pain. This goes further when they're playing with their furry playmates too. I've had a couple of fuzzes who had difficulty making friends with other fuzzes because of their deafness and their hard use of their teeth. I use the time out method and have had very good results. It takes longer but it works much better in the long run. You can do signals with your wee one, seeing isn't always possible and ferrets have poor eyesight anyway. You can stomp your feet, flick lights...I tap the cage if they're sleeping in a hammy or wiggle the hammy if it's accessible. It won't totally stop the startle reactions but it will help cut them down. One feels horrible when they come flying around a corner and then they see you....they're so startled that they tear off and often put themselves in or under things they wouldn't normally be able to get under. Tails go bottle brush and they really scare themselves. Sometimes, they scare themselves so badly they will bark or scream (deaf ferrets are often very verbal).
I think you will do great, you have support here if you need it, just about everyone here has dealt with a nippy fuzz and some of us have actually dealt with "attack" fuzzes . Don't be shy, prowl around. There's a lot of information here, about deaf ferrets and a few websites that are great information about how to work and help them.
ciao