Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello! I have just rescued 2 sweet little ferrets....both are albino marshalls...both fixed and descented...

The male is very skinny, and he has fleas...I believe he is malnourished, and dehydrated...and I know he has fleas..the female is in "better condition" but neither are nearly as healthy as my 2 babies! (slinky and podo)

If anyone can give me some info on helping them "gain weight" and ridding them of the fleas...please help me asap!

I have called 3 vets....none can get them in for 4 weeks at the earliest! Please help me!

any idea of age or history? try advantage for the fleas, i've used it and it worked wonderfully. The cheapest way is get the largest dog size (it's all the same concentration, just a different amount in the packages)and use 0.1 ml per ferret (about one drop). I use a medicine syringe to measure and you just put it between the shoulder blades where they can't lick it off (this is a topical medicine). You will need to treat all the ferrets and any other animals in the household to get rid of them. a few months of treatment should get rid of them, but technically the eggs can live for up to 8 months. If you give a bath, you will have to reapply it, and they have to be dry when you put it on. If your other ferrets are large, you should use 0.2 ml for them.
As far as putting weight on them, are they eating now? Do you know what and if they they were eating much before? regular good quality food may be enough to do that on its own. How does the poop look?

I recently experienced the same thing...adopted an albino ferret in poor condition. The first thing I did was to get him on a good ferret diet. After talking with the vet at the Philadelphia zoo, I decided to use Zupreem diet. I'm also told 8-1 and totally ferret are both good foods. My ferret really likes the zupreem. I gradually switched him over by mixing what he was eating with the ferret diet for about a month, gradually increasing the amount of ferret food every day. I also used ferretone on the food. He loves it. Within a month of having him, he started to put the weight back on and his hair started to grow back. As for the fleas, I have no idea...I'm still new to ferrets. Good luck!

if you get 8 in 1 food, make sure it's the Ultimate version. The version you can buy at wal-mart is not very good quality.

Sorry to disagree, to a degree, but I must. I have never used Advantage on my ferrets - and even stopped using it on my dogs several yrs. ago as there was no need. However, if anyone does decide to use it please be very careful when measuring!!! I cannot stress this enough! 0.1 ml (or cc) is a miniscule amount. I don't know of any way to measure it accurately and I am a nurse with plenty of experience pouring liquid medications. So be very careful and ask your vet's advice on the proper way to administer such a very tiny amount. Also, after bathing a ferret (dog,cat or whatever) you do NOT need to re-apply the Advantage or any of the other flea/tick preventative medications!!! Yes, it is administered topically but it is absorbed through the skin and distributed throughout the body through tiny blood vessels (capillaries) that connect to the larger blood vessels. Therefore, after the initial application that medication is good for a month (or however long is recommended). So, in a nutshell, apply Advantage- bathe your ferret- do NOT re-apply any more Advantage or any other kind of flea medication. It is not pretty nor pleasant to watch an animal die because they have too many poisonous pesticides in their system! Trust me! Nancy

The reapplication after bathing came from a vet, however, I agree with you on checking with a vet before applying any medication.