eye problem - please help

[pinkpink33]

hiya

so ferret woke up a little while ago, i went to get her out to play, and she wouldn't open one of her eyes. i watched her for a bit, and she was acting normally, so i lifted her out to have a closer look. she still didnt open it as she was trying to escape me, so i went to hold her head so i could look closer, and she opened it. now she's running around on the floor acting fine, the eye is still open. i recently changed her bedding, from plain sawdust (which she was fine on) to the same sawdust with a paper-based dust free bedding, called "back to nature". do you think this has something to do with it? does she need to go to the vet? advice please, im worried!

[janie36]

It's possible the change of bedding had something to do with it, but having a sticky eye is not so uncommon. One of our Hams ,Binkle, often has one if not both of his eyes sealed shut, if they don't release on their own, we use a saline solution on a cotton bud and VERY gently wipe his eye, it soon does the trick:)
Binkle is quite an old man and he's only had this problem since he hit 2 a few months ago, if you're really worried, it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask your vet for advice!
Hope this helps:)

[pinkpink33]

ok thanks :) if it happens again i will get onto my vet for more advice!

do you keep saline solution ready made? i have a bottle i used for my neck peircing, is this stuff suitable?
what kind of stuff should i keep around the house in case of emergencies? at the moment i only have a syringe (for feeding), cotton buda and saline solution.

[pixibubbles]

gluey eye is only an issue that should be of concern if accompanied by other sympotns such as swelling and/or irritation. otherwise its just sticky eye x

[pinkpink33]

cool thanks :) i had a very close look and saw nothing out of the ordinary, just a shut eye, and she didnt seem bothered by it! is this more prevalent in syrians than dwarfs? i have never noticed anything like this in my dwarfs, they just usually look a litlle sleepy when they first wake up!

[Geminigirl]

My ham Vash used to get that i would just was his eye with a warm damp cloth.

[pinkpink33]

ok thanks for the help :) i checked her when i woke up and she's fine, both eyes fully open, having a play with a bit of cardboard lol.

[pixibubbles]

i;ve only ha dwarrves a few weeks so cant really comment except to say neither have had t yet. i think all of my syrians except once had it at some point,

[CookieDough24]

ok thanks for the help :) i checked her when i woke up and she's fine, both eyes fully open, having a play with a bit of cardboard lol.

That's great, good to hear! :D

[Sandy Da Cutie]

That happened to sandy once, I had to use a solution, like janie said. And thats good :)

[llzlljoellzll]

have you got a picture of what the ''back to nature bedding looks like when its in the cage as im intrested in buying some but ive only seen the bag.
Where do you get it from?

[pinkpink33]

i made a big order from pet planet, as they dont stock much bedding in my pet store, and i needed a massive wheel and all! um i can get you a pic tomorrow if that's ok, i have it under the sawdust, it's not the most attractive! it's like little grey oblongs about 1cm by 3 cm would say, and cylindrical. it doesnt look like it'd be that comfy on ham feet though. thought id see if it's more absorbant and if they liked it better etc.
i used a 6L bag on 3 ham cages, as well as sawdust to cover the top.