# Change of behaviour after chemical castration - help please



## Robert Krajewski (Oct 16, 2016)

_Hi, 
I have 2 years old male Ferret that I have found and adopted couple of months ago. Around 10 days ago he underwent chemical castration procedure. He eats fine, drink water, checked him for fleas and his poop looks also OK. I noticed he stopped docking (or whatever that sound is called) but reed that's normal after castration. However over last few days he's been a lot less interactive, when let out of the cage all he does is sniffs the room for about 20 minutes on occasion trying to dig out the hole under the door, then either hides in the closed or goes back into his cage, also quite often does that thing where he lies down flat on the floor and stays without move. Not aggressive at all, quite fine to be picked up and starts licking my fingers/face but very mellow at many occasions. To begin with I through it was because we moved about two weeks ago and he's getting adjusted, also before moving had to give him to my friend that owns a ferret to take care of him while I am working/flat hunting but realised that he's behaviour started changing about 2 days after the microchip injection. Did anyone experienced similar behaviour past chemical castration? Is that what vet meant saying he'll be a lot calmer? I am very new to ferret parenting and might be overreacting, might there be a health or mental problem? Should I take him to the vet? Are there any tests that would be recommended to do? If so which ones? _


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## Babyshoes (Jul 1, 2016)

I would take him back to the vet with those concerns, he should be a bit calmer, but the behavior you describe sounds like something else might be wrong, mine sometimes act like that when they are feeling a bit ill. Also, look closely at his poo, as ferrets can often show changes in their bowl habits when something else is wrong.

He could also be overwhelmed by the move& struggling to style, or even just bored & depressed as a result.

Sounds like he is a lone ferret, so if the vet says he is OK, perhaps consider taking him to a rescue to find a friend to play with... Don't just bring home another ferret though, let him choose a friend, ferrets who dislike another at the start seldom become friends in time. Also, it's no more difficult to look after 2 ferrets than one, and if your cage is actually big enough for one ferret, it should be fine for 2.


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## Robert Krajewski (Oct 16, 2016)

I've been checking his poop regularly and it seems fine. If nothing changes I'll go with him to the vet on Wednesday. Being perfectly honest not trusting in vets and their knowledge about ferrets much (done quite few since i got him - some of them couldn't work our his gender despite two quite big nuts he's got.. One lady from "pets for home" seems to be a little bit knowledgeable but only available Wed and Friday and still not that sure of her) so any particular test I should ask to be done? idk - maybe blood tests of some sort? Being perfectly honest I think he seemed to be doing pretty fine by himself, even when I left him with that other ferret they didn't interact much, he was more interested in toys and human companion (I guess he must have been raised by himself) . Plus as I live in London famous house share - it was hard to find a room with one ferret, the flat I live in is temporary and will be moving again in 4 to 6 months and not sure if having another ferret will help me much to find anything. If I manage to rent one or two bedroom then getting another little bandit might become an option but that might need to wait for now. Also, is there an option maybe to take him to animal rescue once in a while so he can meet and potentially play with one of his kind once in a while? Sorry if questions seem damn but trying to take care of little guy best I can and clearly have still lots to learn  
Thanks for all the help.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

I'm a complete novice to ferrets myself so am just learning about these wonderful little creatures & I have no experience of a chemically castrated ferret. I am thinking of taking this route with my young hob next year though when I've done more investigations. I really hope your little fella will be back to his old self soon


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## Frolicking Ferrets (Mar 1, 2016)

A lot of ferrets act this way with chemical castration, its very similar to normal castration, hobs more than jills will be less interactive and lazy for a few weeks. The dooking less is normal since they don't have the hormones making them search for potential mates and dooking is their main way of communication for when they're wanting to find a mate. My first ferret was chemically castrated and she went through a similar phase for a few weeks until her body got used to the hormones in the implant.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

I'm thinking of having the implant for both my kits @Frolicking Ferrets & then having them desexed when they're older. Do you think this is a sensible route to take? At what point next year would you recommend I have them done? I do not want my kits having kitlings! lol And will I need to separate them at any point? (sorry for all the questions & for hijacking the thread)


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## Frolicking Ferrets (Mar 1, 2016)

I wouldn't do both just either implant or neuter, though the implant will need updating every 2 years, it is better for them overall.


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## Robert Krajewski (Oct 16, 2016)

Frolicking Ferrets said:


> A lot of ferrets act this way with chemical castration, its very similar to normal castration, hobs more than jills will be less interactive and lazy for a few weeks. The dooking less is normal since they don't have the hormones making them search for potential mates and dooking is their main way of communication for when they're wanting to find a mate. My first ferret was chemically castrated and she went through a similar phase for a few weeks until her body got used to the hormones in the implant.


That would make perfect sense coz he seems to be ok over all. Because he's not to excited about playing with me atm had to find another way to get him to get a bit more excited and drive away his attention from the castration effects as well as moving etc before I am off to work (I work pretty long hours so if i let him just be he could get depressed). Taking him for walks in the park seems to be doing magic. I let him out of the cage in the morning so he has about 2-3 hours running about the room, try to play with him (not interested but still likes the bin-bag with ping pong balls inside...it's something), let him have a small nap and then before work take him for a walk on a leash for about an hour so he can jump around in the grass, smell new surroundings etc. by the time we get home he east, drinks, does his business and is good to sleep. Still a bit far from himself but everyday tiny bit better (see him more and more rolling on the carpet and bit less of lying flat on the ground with that sad look).


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## Robert Krajewski (Oct 16, 2016)

noushka05 said:


> I'm thinking of having the implant for both my kits @Frolicking Ferrets & then having them desexed when they're older. Do you think this is a sensible route to take? At what point next year would you recommend I have them done? I do not want my kits having kitlings! lol And will I need to separate them at any point? (sorry for all the questions & for hijacking the thread)


As much as apparently there's no risk in castrating and it seems to be very straight forward procedure i found it bit more comforting for me to just take him to the vet for a injection that takes few seconds rather than give him away to be put under and dismembering little guy. Seemed to be a lot less stress for him as well and effect's this same, only as mentioned last 18 to 24 months.


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## Frolicking Ferrets (Mar 1, 2016)

Robert Krajewski said:


> As much as apparently there's no risk in castrating and it seems to be very straight forward procedure i found it bit more comforting for me to just take him to the vet for a injection that takes few seconds rather than give him away to be put under and dismembering little guy. Seemed to be a lot less stress for him as well and effect's this same, only as mentioned last 18 to 24 months.


The reason that implant is better is that it's stressful and doesn't increase the chance of the ferret developing adrenal disease (cancer) unlike castration which increases it quite a lot.


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## Thunderpaws (Aug 19, 2016)

True I've had sandy implanted because the vaccination was costly as she kept coming into season but she is doing well now


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