scratch!

[horse656]

well my ferrets itch them selves often. and i mean often. they wake up and thump around, i call them my little thumpers. (Bambi )

so anyway, i read somewhere about oatmeal baths... and how that helped with the scratching and itching. i talked to my vet about the itching back a few months ago, and he saw nothing of it. (i think it might be the winter, but winter is over now... SO )
but now its just getting ridiculous.

so how do i do that...?

do i just use regular oatmeal...??

[Heather]

First please understand that ferrets itch. It's in the nature of the beast. There are a couple of things you can try but washing them isn't one of them. Usually, this results in them itching more. I only wash my guys if they've got into a battle in the litter box or found something else disgusting to play in. They do get to play in their swimming pool or in a pool set up in the living room but it's for their stimulation and entertainment. I've found that changing their diet from kibbles helps hugely. It takes about 2 or 3 months before you genuinely see a difference. Kibbles keep little ferrets on the point of dehydration. Consider this....if you're dehydrated your skin itches, ferrets are the same way. You can also assist by providing a good source of fat. Most here add salmon oil, or some protein based oil. I use small marine fish oil. They get about 5 mls per day...it's a treat
It's my take on it, others may have other solutions. As far as the oatmeal bath, you can put some oatmeal in a cheesecloth bag and run hot water through it, or use it like a washcloth. These are two methods that I've heard of creating a oatmeal type bath without using any form of shampoo.
ciao

[horse656]

well, I'm not looking to bathe them. Joe personally hates it. i think he think its the worst thing ever invented.

but i read somewhere that oatmeal "baths" help with the itching.
i think they are itching too much to be normal. like way out of it.
but... i shall look for more stuff...

[sherrylynne]

I can't count the number of times mine have woken out of a sound sleep, literally fallen out of their hammocks, or of the platforms, itching themselves so frenetically It's woken me up out of a sound sleep more than once! All normal.

[mustelidmusk]

Ecessive itchig can be a sign od dry skin (a little extra virgin olive oil id good for ferts). Also, ferrets (whole and fixed) have hormonal surges i late witer/early Spring. As such adrenal disease can also be a sign of adreal disease.

-jennifer

[valkyriestorm]

OMG I thought only my one ferret did that. Skunkers is the worst. But now the cage is not in my bedroom anymore. He also would just fall out of his hammock and scratch like crazy on one of the platforms of the cage and it was the worst noise. Another noise I would hate was one of them would wake in the middle of the night and ate and drank from the water bottle. Eat, drink, eat then drink and so on, crunch crunch, tap tap tap at the water bottle