ferret people, help, concerned about my fuzzies health!

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PingPongPony

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Hi all :)
Gavin and stacey doing great with settling in, getting into more trouble every day, they've put the dog into its place too now :)
Anyway, i'm slightly concerned with Gavin's health. I've noticed that once in a while when he's in the cage, he will lick his own urine, he never does it outside of the cage though and never licks her urine, just his straight after weeing. He also has an enormous belly but i don't know what his ideal weight should be so i can't say whether he's the way he's supposed to be or whether he's too fat. He weighs about 2.3kg. Also another thing, he gets into extremely deep sleep, i can pick him up, carry him round while he's asleep and it takes him a good 5 min to wake up. I'm just a little worried with the combination of these 3 things. Apart from this, he plays, runs around, eats and goes to the toilet fine. No discharge from nose, his eyes are clean and shiny, ears are clean and look fine, gums light pink, coat is nice and soft, shiny and isn't falling out or anything and overall he seems happy, just a lot slower and lazier than stacey, he also gets tired a lot quicker than her.
Should i be concerned and take him to vets?
Only reason i haven't yet because he just seems so happy and runs around and plays fine, so i thought i'll ask what you guys think first.
Pics of gavin for you to judge on weight:
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He sounds just like our hobb and we have had him two years and he is still going strong! I really don't know why he drinks his own urine, he's been checked out by the vet and he is fine. The kids wear him like a scarf and walk around the house doing their chores while he snores on their shoulders. Yours does look a little big but then with winter coats they are very fluffy. I have no idea what the ideal weight is for a hobb, might be worth googling it?
 
indiat said:
He sounds just like our hobb and we have had him two years and he is still going strong! I really don't know why he drinks his own urine, he's been checked out by the vet and he is fine. The kids wear him like a scarf and walk around the house doing their chores while he snores on their shoulders. Yours does look a little big but then with winter coats they are very fluffy. I have no idea what the ideal weight is for a hobb, might be worth googling it?
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Yeah, we can easily pick him up, carry him round, put him on the sofa, come back in 5 min, pick him up again, while he's asleep throughout all that.
Google says 1-2.5kg for hobs, neutered hobs should weigh less. I guess he's near the top end of the weight scale then. I'll review weight situation when his winter coat is gone, he gets proper foor, a mixture of james wellbeloved and chudleys, in the evening they get some cooked chicken breast but that's it, he doesn't get any sugary foods or excessive treats, treats are only when i clicker train and thats max 5 min every day, so maybe 3-4 treats. I'll watch his weight but at least i can stop worrying about his sleeping and urine drinking.
 
Welcome to what is called 'dead ferret sleep', makes your heart stop lol, but totally normal, along with drinking their own pee, mine do that and have done for years.
The extra weight sounds like his winter fat, they should get all fat and cuddly for winter but will lose at least 20% of it in the spring.
 
all sounds fairly normal-the eldest our male ferrets can be taken out of his bad out some where else that is cold, the cage cleaned out then put back and he will not wake up at all. wish i slept like that:rolleyes:
 
Some ferrets do drink their own urine-it's normal, as Is the heavy sleeping. Ferrets are supposed to get 'fatter' in winter months. Don't worry all normal. And as for weight-well all ferrets are different sizes. I've got Jills and jobs which are tiny and then I've got really big ones too! So can't really go on what a ferret 'supposed' to weigh. Look in your local area for ferret shows. It's like a free health check, it's fun and you can get loads of good advice. X
 
My castrated hobb get's so fat in the winter that you can't even put your fingers round him to pick up. It's like blubber. But come the spring it will literally disappear over night
 
My boy is the same. Don't worry. If he's eating and drinking normally. Lads just like sleep! My little girl is a busy bee but the boy yawns as soon as he's moved to his feed bowl. Oh the effort! Haha
 
Thanks everyone, i will stop worrying now :) Stacey is very much alert at all times, the slightest noise wakes her up and she's ready to go, he's the complete opposite, if i didn't know better and if i didn't see his chest rising i'd have thought he was dead! He fell asleep spread out on his back on top of a plastic bag right in the middle of the room today, he got a bit tired playing bless him :) And after 3 hours of constant exploring and playing, Stacey was sleepy! Yes, that's exactly what i said, SHE was SLEEPY :D
Last night i had 1 hour sleep because gavin decided to dig himself a tunnel to china and wouldn't stop scratching at the plastic floor, the noise was horrendous, i couldn't sleep. At about midnight, i got angry at him and got up, got him out of the cage and put him in the hammock at the top of the cage with stacey, thought that he'll be too lazy to walk back down to the bottom of the cage and that his sis sleeping will make him sleep, it was pitch black as i was half asleep and didnt want to wake her up either so i didn't turn the light on, little did i know, little miss explorer, slipped out of the cage in the few seconds that it was open. I didn't know that so i just went back to bed. At about 3am, my brother wakes me up by waving a ferret in front of me and asking me if i've lost anything. She was running around the house in the dark on her own, she went into his bedroom and woke him up so he brought her back up. :o Assesed the house in the morning and no damage done, or i just haven't found it yet!

Beausmate said:
I think you need to post some more pics. :D
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I have done but the thread got moved to the picture gallery :(
Here's the link to more pics though :D
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=11429446#post11429446
 
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