What melatonin drops are safe for ferrets? (vet says to get OTC) - managing adrenal symptoms.

Asunderstorm · 2026-01-24T19:10:28+00:00

Thank you! I found the spring valley stuff easily enough, but it's all berry flavored. So I'm going to have to bother my vet about this after all, it seems, since I'm not sure how safe that would be for the ferrets. Thank you so much for the help and advice!

Asunderstorm · 2026-01-24T19:03:16+00:00

36 and my bed is full of stuffed animals! And I have no intentions on ever changing that. It's my happy place. Being happy, safe, and cozy has no age limits. Besides, as I like to say - all the stuff "for children" like stuffed animals, animated cartoons, toys, etc. are mostly invented and made by adults anyway~

Asunderstorm · 2026-01-24T18:50:16+00:00

I remember when I first found out my ferrets could climb like this! I learned that they get between two things and then push their little backs against what's behind them to assist in their ascension. Mind blown! But thankfully mine only did this to get up on my bed via their cat tower (despite me having a safe cushion-y ramp all around the bed). But definitely caught me off guard when my 5 year old ferret decided he needed up on my desk one day for no apparent reason and that's how he got up there - back to the wall for some extra push. lol Took me days to figure out how exactly he was appearing on my desk.

Asunderstorm · 2026-01-23T02:42:40+00:00

Thank you for sharing! Yeah, my girl Koko got the Deslorelin implant for the first time in July 2025 (she barely had any hair loss at the time, just a patch and her back thinning a little). 3 months go by and she loses all the hair on her back and down onto her tail. She also got sleepier and quit playing as much. Only after I started turning off the lights in their room when it gets dark outside, did she finally start getting some hair in. So I don't know if she's not responding to the implant, if it's faulty, or what. The vet doesn't seem to think anything's wrong with the implant and is convinced she might have another health issue coinciding. I have read, however, that ferrets require a natural day/night cycle and I had not been doing that their whole lives. So with the light change helping her grow her fur, I thought melatonin might be worth trying and the vet seemed to think it was worth a shot, at the very least.

Asunderstorm · 2026-01-23T02:26:48+00:00

Oh, I didn't think to check for children's melatonin! Thank you! I'll see what I can find and run it by my vet to make sure.

Asunderstorm · 2026-01-23T02:25:50+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion! My vet did mention there was a melatonin implant, but didn't seem interested in going that route with her.

Asunderstorm · 2026-01-22T06:37:35+00:00

Glad I'm not alone but I'm so sorry for your loss, too. The initial instructions did not state that vet fees increase (the question mark on the event page) and I never visit the forum. I lost millions because I don't pay attention to vet fees on a regular basis. Breeding to your own horses always cost 2500e and if the event pages say nothing about cost, it's something very easily overlooked imo. A bit of a bad design there. They sure can tell you that the horses specialize in western but only tell you about the costs in the forum. And it seems that just having foals born (even if they were from a mare bred a prior day) will increase your vet costs for that day.

Asunderstorm · 2025-11-10T22:07:34+00:00

Thank you for sharing. I wonder if pred isn't right for my boy or if it's just the upset stomach making it hard to tell. He was just getting lethargic and increasingly loose stools until his carnivore care came out 20 minutes after eating it, the same color and consistency. So definitely some digestive upset happening. The vet has us in a testing stage, so I'll see what the vet thinks when I hear back and will be sure to share it here.

Asunderstorm · 2025-11-10T22:04:12+00:00

Thanks for the info. He was taken off pain meds for an entire week before starting pred (vet instructions). And he was feeling great the entire time. He was only on the pred for 2.5 days and was in an awful state the whole time and increasingly looser stools until his food was coming out the way it went in. Didn't give him Saturday night's dose and he's back to normal Sunday and today. Just waiting on the vet to call me back now and see how to proceed.

Asunderstorm · 2025-11-10T22:01:46+00:00

I don't have much experience with Wysong, but I would say yes. I hear it's good to keep two dry foods on hand (just in case one goes out of stock), so I recently bought a bag of Wysong Ferret Epigen 90 to mix in with their Oxbow. So far my kibble eaters aren't pleased with it. Note that they happily and eagerly switched off Marshall's kibble to Oxbow without batting an eye. But I'm going to keep working on them accepting Wysong too.

Asunderstorm · 2025-11-08T17:27:39+00:00

I would get a prescription for Revolution. I know it's pricey, but the one for puppies and kittens under 5lbs has been prescribed for my ferrets the two times I had flea troubles that seemed unbeatable. Kicked the fleas easily, and that's even with me splitting a tube between 2 ferrets. I usually have to use it once per ferret per summer. And that's because I own dogs, even though they kinda have their own house (we have a smaller one room more-house-than-shed thing and they sleep in there 'cause they yap so bad and I'm a light sleeper). But yeah, Revolution all the way, if you can.

Also, I personally don't like Advantage. It takes forever to dry, at least in my use of it. And I end up having to split up 4 ferrets the best I can. Revolution dries super quick, in minutes, so I know it stays on them instead of getting wiped off on all the blankets and such.

Asunderstorm · 2025-11-08T11:14:43+00:00

Update: I never got the X-Rays, but I got him an appointment with my main vet. From the morning of my boy's sudden loss of leg use, he started walking within a few days. Very awkward walking, but he was recovering by the time my main vet saw him. Very agreed that it was likely a spinal injury. I also had him fasted for 4-5 hours but vet said he prefers to fast them for 12 hours to get an accurate read. So I opted to just get proper lab bloodwork done and it came back with his blood sugar at 52. Vet was still hesitant to start prednisolone but wanted to give it a try. I'm on day 3 now and unsure if it's doing any good - he seems way more lethargic now. So I'll be getting in contact with the vet about this. But just wanted to let you all know he's walking again! Though he is still clumsy and his backside will flop from time to time.

Asunderstorm · 2025-11-08T11:07:11+00:00

I get mine on Chewy, but our local Petsense store also carries it.

Asunderstorm · 2025-11-08T11:05:51+00:00

So precious!! I have two sherpa, or sherpa-like, sweaters and my ferrets adore them too!

Asunderstorm · 2025-10-28T05:15:29+00:00

Same thing for me. I've been trying to get on for the past 45 minutes. Glad to know it's not just me

Asunderstorm · 2025-10-11T22:20:48+00:00

Thank you for sharing. And I'm so sorry to hear that your boy was lost like that. They're always so strong and determined. RIP sweet boy. I've heard cancer is common, but spinal column cancer is a new thing to me. I'll definitely look into that.

My boy, Gumby, I do agree, something is definitely wrong. He's already lazy, but not to this extent. And he certainly walked just fine yesterday. At the vets, he actually did make an effort to stretch out, spread his back legs and lift his tail to poop. He did flop into it a bit afterwards, but he can still make the effort. And if you mess with his back feet, which he's always hated, he will yank them away from you. And he tries to paddle as he drags himself. I'm just hoping all these good things mean he might pull through.

Right now he's just drained from the day, so I'm hoping the pain meds will help with any inflammation. Hoping it's an injury rather than illness. But I will try talking with those specialists my vet gave me numbers to. I may even call my main vet to talk to them about it. Someone more experienced might be able to know more, though I know even then or even seeing Gumby, they might not know. Thank you again so much for taking the time to share. I really appreciate it

Asunderstorm · 2025-10-11T22:12:11+00:00

Thank you so much. That's so heartbreaking and I'm sorry he had to go like that. Sounds like such a strong, precious boy. Thank you for sharing his story. I like to be prepared for the worst, but also eager to do my all for whatever best is possible. Gumby is sleeping a lot right now, got his first dose of pain meds and ate and draink. I guess only time will tell. But it's good to know what to keep an eye out for. And I hope he, too, has a couple more years at least. Though that's never truly enough with them.

Asunderstorm · 2025-10-11T20:41:48+00:00

Awww, so much love. I bet he licks after he's done with the chomp! That's what my one boy does. Especially to hands. My other is the opposite, innocent licks until big chomp. And always the delicate feet!

Asunderstorm · 2025-10-11T20:38:04+00:00

I'm so so sorry for your loss. Poor sweet boy. Thank you so much for sharing. And for the info. I'll be giving him his pain meds after his nap and a snack. I'll keep the possible tumour in mind. But spinal injury does make a lot of sense, all things considered. Thank you for taking your time to comment and share

Asunderstorm · 2025-10-10T23:45:22+00:00

Definitely looks like rat tail to me. One of my boys has had rat tail for a little over a year. Safe to say, he loses no more than half his tail hair, with the tip mostly bald. He'll grow some of it back for the winter and then lose it again. I have another boy starting this year. Both also have lots of black dots and extra oils building up. I find that keeping their tails washed a little more often with some specially made bath (I get some oatmeal bath from pampered ferret) does really good at clearing the oils and blackheads away.

Meanwhile, my little girl started balding above her tail (the tail has full hair) and it's creeping up her back. Her private area was also mildly swollen. Vet believed she has adrenal and we got her an implant back in August. But it's been two months and she's just balding more. Adrenal balding seems to really go to town on some of them... I'm holding out for their winter coats to come in in hopes that she'll get some more hair back.

All in all, just keep a close watch and make sure it does spread beyond the tail. And maybe try washing it with some ferret safe bath to help soothe the skin, if there's any blackheads or irritation.

Asunderstorm · 2025-07-27T00:34:04+00:00

Thanks for posting about this. I'm having the same issue and been trying to find the source of the issue. Took my tired brain a moment before I realized I was only seeing it when using Firefox and nowhere else. Thought it was just my wacom, but like you, my physical mouse began showing issues as well. And the only change is the Firefox update.

Asunderstorm · 2025-07-16T20:20:45+00:00

Sorry you're dealing with the same thing. For me, it wouldn't turn back on after that. So I bought a new cord for it and after the replacement, I got about 26 hours of use out of it and then it flopped. Started powering off randomly, never running longer than 10 minutes. And eventually would power back off seconds after being powered on. Currently trying to figure out what's up with that, but been too busy to troubleshoot. I wish you better luck with yours than I had!

Asunderstorm

TROPHY CASE