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Post by slinkytiger on Feb 4, 2012 4:59:42 GMT -5
Our young ones have yet to take a lick & look like they groom themselves. The books say ferrets groom themselves & swallow their fur. Well - its not happening over here. OMG - Do we have dirty ferrets?   |
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Post by Thérèse on Feb 4, 2012 7:33:57 GMT -5
Maybe they do it when thereis nothing better to do (ie. you are not about). Ferrets not only groom themselves but also each other and even you!
They are young too, don't know but maybe at this age Mum would still be grooming them. I have had kits but they have always had older ferrets about, so don't really know, just what sprung to mind
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2012 10:58:16 GMT -5
I see my older ferret groom herslef alll the time, but I have not yet seen my 2 younger ferrets groom themselves. I have only had them about 2 weeks... They might save their grooming for when theyre stuck in the cage and bored?? Because when their out all they want to do is play...  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2012 11:40:33 GMT -5
I took an old casserole dish and filled it with water and I leave it on the floor resting on some towels. Both my girls will go over to it, stick their paws in the water, then wipe their faces with their paws and lick the water off their paws. They also clean each others ears.
Every week for nail clipping time, I put some ferretone on their bellies to distract them while I clip, and afterwards they lick the 'tone off each others bellies.
Very cute!
But they also did not start doing this until they were around 8-9 months old..
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2012 13:18:19 GMT -5
I have never seen mine groom themselves  I guess they do it when I'm not looking! (...I hope!) |
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Post by Heather on Feb 4, 2012 13:31:40 GMT -5
Baby fuzzes don't appear to groom themselves. I noticed that Minion didn't start grooming himself until he was several months old (though he was groomed by the older ferrets). He now grooms himself regularly, in fact is very meticulous about his grooming habits.
ciao
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Post by slinkytiger on Feb 4, 2012 16:28:09 GMT -5
Mmmm interesting! I wonder how they will learn to groom themselves without older ferrets around? Katirhi: We also fill a basin with warm water & they scooba dive through it. The water definately makes a difference - they look & smell fresher - lol. I also read in a recent thread that rice takes the oils out of furry coats so I'll give that a go as well.  I wonder if I hold them & stroke with a damp / wetish flannel whether that would simulate grooming? |
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Post by Sherry on Feb 4, 2012 16:31:01 GMT -5
Definitely it will be like mamma grooming when you do that!
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Post by slinkytiger on Feb 4, 2012 17:18:52 GMT -5
Thanks Sherry  . It should work! Gosh - role-modeling grooming. A ferrents work is never done.  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2012 13:39:19 GMT -5
I can't believe I never really thought about this. I've never seen any of my brood groom themselves, and the girls are nearly ten months now. The girls and Spike were definitely taken from their mothers at ten weeks, as they were rescued straight from people who hadn't meant to have kits, and didn't want them. I'm not sure about Penny, but she's only been here a few days. If they don't groom themselves (except when they lick oil off their bellies for nail trimming), will it do them any harm? They don't look dirty, and I clean their ears every couple of weeks (though they aren't very waxy).
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Post by Sherry on Feb 18, 2012 14:11:25 GMT -5
If their coats are clean and healthy looking, then they are either grooming themselves or each other so I'd not worry  |
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 18, 2012 14:24:08 GMT -5
Sonny grooms himself. He likes to look good. He's extremely vain.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2012 14:38:09 GMT -5
All 3 of my ferrets groom themselves, but Finn especially spends a great deal of time on grooming. He's so vain. And he's loud about it. I always know when he's grooming because I hear "slurp slurp slurp slurp" forever  |
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 18, 2012 14:42:11 GMT -5
Sonny is free roaming in our bedroom. He likes to climb up onto the bed, lay right next to you and groom himself. Sometimes he licks my eyelids with his sandpaper tongue and wakes me up. Nothing better than waking up to the smell of ferret saliva!
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Post by Heather on Feb 18, 2012 15:16:18 GMT -5
After watching the wee ones and having most of mine being older than younger. I think that they don't seem to really start grooming themselves until after a year. Grooming seems to increase with age. Minion was a slob, we used to say he never groomed himself but I've noticed recently that he's started to. He's now a year or so. I find that my oldsters seem to groom a lot. I don't think hobs count...they groom themselves when they come into season so they can distribute their stink better  Especially the face washing, ear washing ritual. If you've ever smelled a hob, they seem to smell stronger around their ears (their stink oozes out their ears). I know that Odin used to spend a lot of time grooming himself but with his paws...rubbing his stink around  ;D ciao |
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