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Post by unclejoe on Apr 21, 2014 11:04:23 GMT -5
I was pretty convinced that Pandora was deaf, but the last week or so, I'm not so sure. When I call her by name, even loudly, "Pandy Pandy Pandy!," she doesn't respond. But when I call "Soupies!" in my high-pitched ferret-talk voice, she magically appears. And today when I ran the vacuum in the ferret room she and Abita both popped out of a drawer at the same time. She also doesn't respond to a squeakie. Others respond to "Soupies!" so maybe I should just call them that way, but I hate for them to show up and not get rewarded.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2014 11:41:23 GMT -5
That's interesting. Maybe she doesn't like her name. (giggle) The good thing is that you know if someone got out (like Rico did), they will respond to your Soupie call.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2014 14:49:52 GMT -5
I think Rico has selective hearing aswell! Rico doesn't come when called or to chow time or to treats! But as soon as he hears the squeaker or the treat bag or his food shake he comes running!!! How funny are ferrets! Like I said they are kinda like toddlers! A folder won't respond to get in the car we are going shopping but as soon as you say we will get ice cream they come running!! haha!
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Post by unclejoe on Apr 21, 2014 22:12:56 GMT -5
EVERYONE comes running to the sound of the treat jars, even my pill bottles, except Prissy and Pandy. It could be coincidence, I suppose, but it's happening more and more. I'll try to do an objective hearing test tomorrow.
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Post by Heather on Apr 22, 2014 1:18:38 GMT -5
It is difficult sometimes figuring out if they can hear. I think some of our "deafies" are variably deaf. Meaning they can hear within certain ranges but not everything. I can hear some sounds but not others and within certain ranges. I cannot hear deep tones but can hear higher notes, in fact find them very annoying. Speech drives me crazy....I can hear some sounds but not others. Some people I can hear fine and others not at all and it has nothing to do with how loud they're speaking. It's frustrating. ciao
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Post by Thérèse on Apr 22, 2014 6:12:54 GMT -5
If she is coming out from somewhere with others, it may just be she knows how they react for soupies and so goes into soupie mode herself, or whatever the noise was that she has seemingly reacted to.
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Post by msav on Apr 22, 2014 8:58:08 GMT -5
My deaf ferrets (3 of them) are amazingly adaptive. The definitely take visual ques for the hearing ferrets. I had that reaction a few time I could have sworn they heard me. But other time I can see the interaction from the deaf ones to the hearing ones. Just a quick look form them and it seems they understand a lot. I think they also have a sixth sense when they have a bond with a hearing ferret because they could be in 2 separate locations and the deaf ones seem to know when the hearing ones get a treat and they come running from an area where there is no way they could even hear, see or smell (even if they could hear). There is some kind of connection other ferrets and I think it is stronger with bonded ferrets. happens way too often to be just a coincidence.
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Post by unclejoe on Apr 22, 2014 12:51:40 GMT -5
This morning Dar got up well before me (we have Tuesdays off.) I hadn't seen Pandy in the 20 minutes I was up. I made soups and called "Soupies!" and there's Pandy looking at me from under the couch, near my feet.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 24, 2014 8:20:18 GMT -5
Try calling her name in the same pitch you would call soupies
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Post by unclejoe on Apr 24, 2014 13:11:11 GMT -5
So today she shows up for treats. All by herself, from a different room, just like yesterday when I called soupies. Didn't shake the treat jar, just handled it to dispense. It's a miracle!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2014 13:24:41 GMT -5
Very much like toddlers indeed. When I taught preschool it was very commonplace for other teachers (though I never did this) to carry around lollipops in their jackets. They would pull one out and unwrap it, and magically all their toddlers were in a straight line! A few of the teachers would just eat the lollipop in front of the kiddos because we weren't supposed to give the kids sweets. It seemed mean to me, kind of along the lines of your not wanting to call "soupies" and not reward them... although despite my guilty feelings for them, I know that at a toddler's developmental stage (under age 3 or so), they do not have the cognitive ability to understand they're being "tricked", and they will simply come because of the chance of a reward. It is more of a knee-jerk reflex than an intentional attempt to gain the reward. I assume ferrets wouldn't be too disappointed long-term either. It still feels a bit mean though You are lucky they come at all, my Ezra seems so oblivious to life most of the time I'd be surprised if he even notices there's food until he's half done eating it.
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