Ferret Care 101: Ear Mites
Ferrets produce earwax and this is normal it is reddish brown in color. When a ferret gets infested with ear mite you will see an increase in production and the color is darker red. These will be the only visible signs, ferrets do not do not have the typical signs that cats and dogs do (scratching or shaking their heads). You should check your ferrets ear every two weeks as part of your ferret care regime. Or don’t check them and due to improper ferret care you will run the risk of infection caused by:
- Damage done by the ear mites
- From other animals that has an ear infection
- From bath water that gets in their ears
Unlike Ferrets with ear mites, ferrets with an infection will scratch and shake their heads, at this point look for a:
- Yellow
- Brown
- Or Green
The puss like discharge may create a bad odor.
Ferret Care – Cleaning the ears
You must take caution when cleaning a ferrets ears, their ear canals a very small. You can’t really put the medication in dirty ears. So I personally my wife performs this part of the ferret care clean them I am like a bull in a china shop, give me an elephant and I would be able to do there’s, I think. But, I can tell you how she does it. Don’t use a Q-tip no matter what I have said before, it will pack it in and make it harder to get rid of. Talk to your vet about a solution to break it up the wax and discharge. Message below there ear this is the canal and you will loosen and help unclog the ears by doing this. Now we can use the Q-tip to clean up around the outer part of the ear. You may need to do this a few times to get a nice clean canal to put the medication into. You will have to apply medication for the mites several times according to your vet’s instructions. Always make sure it gets down into the canal really good (message it like you did for the wax remover). Just remember when your let your ferret loose half the medication will be spread around the room. We always do their ears in the bathroom because it is tile and latex paint, easily washed with no stains
Ferret Care – The ear infection
Not to make light of this but it is the easiest to take care of but also the most costly. If your ferrets ears are red and look sore they are probably infected whether it be a bacterial or yeast infection a vet trip is called for. If you were given the ferret, the previous owner might not have provided proper ferret care. If so it may take quite a while for your ferrets ears to heal, but with proper ferret care this shouldn’t happen again.
