Can ferrets shed their fur?

Question

can ferrets shed their fur?

Answer 1

Yes, they shed throughout the year like a dog or cat would, but most notably in the spring, when they lose their winter coat.

Answer 2

Ferrets shed twice annually. Their winter coats (grown in at the fall shed, and shed again in spring) are thick, lush, and somewhat longer. It may also be somewhat lighter-colored, especially in ferrets with some roaning, and masks may diminish to a v-shape.

The summer coat (grown in at the spring shed, and shed again in the fall,) is sleeker, thinner, and shorter. It may also be darker, and some sables grow in full or partial hoods!

Answer 3

Ferrets generally shed their coats twice a year. In spring and fall you will probably notice a more abundant hair loss.  In the spring ferrets will shed out their excess winter hair growth and replace it with a sleek simmer lock.  Come fall, ferrets usually reverse the process.  Their bodies dispose of old hairs and fill out with a flush winter coat.

There are always exceptions to this rule.  Ferrets are very photosensitive; that is, they are affected by the light (either natural or artificial) that they are exposed to.  If your ferret is constantly exposed to a lot of light, for instance if you tend to frequently turn the lights on in the room that your ferret spends most of his time in, this can throw his coat cycle off.  His coat may not grow in as thick as most normal coats or it may grow in sporadically.  You may never even notice a well-defined spring or fall shedding cycle.  Some ferrets that are exposed to sudden light changes may drastically blow their coats.  Their fur will literally fall out in handfuls and these ferrets may develop a “Kiwi fruit” look.  This close cropped fuzz is the new coat growing in and eventually the ferret will look normal again.  An interesting, but sometimes starting phenomenon in ferret hair growth occasionally occurs when the new starts forming under the skin.  In sable ferrets this new growth will often give the skin a deep blue hue.  In chocolate ferrets the skin may appear olive or khaki colored.  The ferrets will appear as if bruised, but there is actually nothing wrong with them.  This discoloration is especially noticeable about a week or two after the ferret has had surgery, if the surgery was done just before or during the seasonal shed.  Another interesting shed pattern that some ferrets develop is a V shaped pattern that usually starts on the forehead or the back of the neck and works its way down the entire body.  This will sometimes temporarily give the ferret an unusual striped pattern or sometimes the ferret will have one coat color above the shed pattern and another color below it!

http://www.ferret-fact.org/Shedding.htm

Answer 4

Yes. It's usually done twice a year - at the end of winter/beginning of spring, they will shed their old coat and replace it with a lighter, cooler coat for the warm months; at the end of summer/beginning of fall, they will shed their lighter coat and grow in a thicker, heavier coat to keep warm during the cooler months. During coat changes, some ferrets will even change colors and/or patterns (I have a silver mitt that gets lighter and lighter with each coat change). It's a good idea to brush them regularly during shedding periods to help prevent hairballs in your ferret. They also lose and gain weight during this time (lose a little before summer; gain it back for the winter).