4/12 Ferret Trauma

Did you know that ferrets are in the Mustelidae family? That is the same family that skunks, badgers, and otters are in. As I'm sure the skunk tells you, this family is known for having a fairly foul smell. 

 Even when pet ferrets are descented, they still carry a smell. A foul one. Males tend to smell more than females, but the scent is still there. Always.

 To prevent our ferrets from smelling everything up too much, we give them a bath once a month. To them, this is very traumatizing and horrible. To us, it is a chore that needs to be done. They are just being difficult. Needless to say, they do not make any attempt to make it any easier for us. 

After packing everything that we need to bathe the ferrets, we take them to the horrible place that they get bathing. This is the same room where Village keeps their Blue & Gold Macaw known as Nikki, a hairless rat, and a regular rat. It is rather smelly in there. 

We try to do one ferret at a time. It is easier that way. Today we started with Coco. After getting her into my grip firmly, we started on her ears. They build up chunky wax, which is disgusting, but needs to be cleaned out. 

After the ears have been cleaned, we attempt to trim the ferret's nails. There is usually much protesting in the form of wiggling crazily and scratching my hands to bits as they struggle. 

Nails done, it is time for the actual bath. They get wet. And become very, very unhappy. With a quick shampoo and rinse, they are already halfway done. Next is conditioner and another rinse. Afterwards, they are dried and returned to the crate. 

Next ferret, please! We finish with both ferrets and reward them with a special vitamin supplement that they LOVE! They are returned to their house/enclosure, and they rub against everything to try and get their smell back. Ferret spa day is complete.