Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 5 year old ferret Makita has rat tail. I noticed it a week ago when I was giving her a bath, all the hair just pulled right out. Her tail is almost completely bald, except for a few straglers. I know what your going to say that she has adrenal gland diesease. But she still has a good appetite, she is still playful and shows no "depression". I lost my other ferret Honey (same age as Makita) a year ago from adrenal gland diesease. And Makita is showing none of the symptoms as Honey did. She is not shedding anywhere else, she always has ferretvite and her oil supplement (can't remember the name) Has anyone ever heard of this before?

Also, I would like to note for other ferret owners. My Honey did not loose her hair on her tail like most. She lost all of her hair between her sholder blades.

Any fur oss & my ferrets are on the vet's doorstep! I have lost 3 to adrenal disease. They had surgeries, melatonin treatment, Lupron, etc. etc. etc. Yes- the last 1 I lost had lost fur between his shoulder blades also. Then he developed a tumor there & lymphoma that spread throughout his body.
I wouldn't mess w/ it esp. at 5 yrs. old. 4-5 yrs. seems to be the time it 1st shows up. Get him to the vet!
Nancy, Hobbes, Riddle & Goose

Does she have anything that looks like blackheads on the tail? Surf around on www.ferretcentral.org, there's lots of health info there. If she does have what looks like blackheads, it's something like acne that can cause the hair to fall out. Keep washing her tail to clear up the skin and the hair should grow back, maybe not until the fall when the coat starts to thicken, though. However, if she's showing any signs of aggression, I'd get her checked by the vet. I lost my first ferret to adrenal, her tail was the first thing to lose hair, she never showed signs of depression, loss of appetite or anthing like that, the only signs were the hair loss and aggression, which I understand to be the two biggest signals. Hers was malignant and by the time I found a good ferret vet to do surgery it had invaded her whole abdomen. They lost her on the table.

So anyway, check for the blackheads and if they are there try treating that, but if she shows ANY change in behavior or the blackheads aren't there, I'd be safe rather than sorry and check out adrenal. Good luck.

(I posted this on the wrong thread before, sorry)

My guy had AD and he exhibited few of the textbook signs. He had fur loss on his belly first and then eventually all over EXCEPT for his tail and he showed no signs of fatigue, aggression or loss of quality of life other than what seemed to be normal aging. That and his age is why we decided not to do the surgery. He lived to be almost 7.

You've probably read the theories about AD being caused by day/night rhythms being off. What worked for me was putting him in a room with no sunlight with a lamp using a flourescent bulb (the kind that screw into regular lightbulb sockets) on a timer with about 2 hours of light at about dawn and dusk. All of his fur grew back and he kept it 6 months until he passed away.