Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just gave my ferret a bath and he is acting strangely. The first time I gave him a bath he was fine! He liked swimming around in the shallow water, he loved playing with the little plastic easter eggs in the water with him, he dried off fairly quickly and took a nap afterwards. This time is the second time I've given him a bath. He's SPAZZING! He's biting at himself incessantly, when I put him in his cage to see if he needed to use the bathroom he started rolling around and trying to tunnel in his litter (good thing i just cleaned it), he tried hacking up a hairball suddenly, and now he's back to biting at himself. No wait, the tunneling has resumed. and now he just pooed and tunneled right into it... what in the WORLD has gotten into him?! Now he's laying in his hammock just bitting at his side again... Is he just mad, or is there something else that i'm missing?
Oh, and I used the same shampoo both times. It's Suava children's shampoo conditioner. I rinse it out very thoroughly, and the only reason I used this was I couldn't make it to the pet store today. I WILL get some tomorrow though. Do you think I should bathe him in that and see if maybe something in the soap bothered his skin? Or maybe he's just mad that he got a bath... I don't know! Has anybody else had this happen?

Most ferrets go spaztic after having a bath. They like to roll and tunnel on anything and everything to dry themselves off. As for the biting, check the areas for any sign of irritation. If not, then your ferret is just spreading his/her scent around which is normal behavior when drying off.

Yep, mine go nuts after a bath as well, they are trying to dry off, the biting and licking is continued bathing to try and get themselves dried. Every ferret I've had did this after a bath. I usually try to catch them right after a potty trip to avoid the poop, and I leave several towels on the floor for them to roll around in and dry themselves.