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Post by littlewiseowl on Apr 3, 2011 17:16:12 GMT -5
Okay, so I've provided two dig boxes in the cage and guess where my little jerk likes to dig?
His DIRTY, poo filled litter and the water dish.... The nice dig boxes with different materials isn't fun to dig in, no, but the litter which is full of his own (and his roommate's) feces IS.
They get play time, dig time, FUN TIME.... How can I make him NOT spew Sh!t and dirty litter all over my walls, windows, carpet and the ENTIRE cage...? I'm wasting money because when I put new litter in, it's on the floor, in the water dish, dirtied and EVERYWHERE...
I'm at a loss... He gets play time and dig boxes galore but prefers bath, play, and dine in HIS AND HER FECAL MATTER.
Or in the freshly poured water. I have to fill the dishes multiple times a day because as soon as he sees that there's water in them, it needs to NOT be in there but instead, all over the floor, new bedding, litter (which becomes swollen and hard to clean).
I'm at a loss. These ferrets are making me lose hair...
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Post by Sherry on Apr 3, 2011 17:23:59 GMT -5
It sounds like he's tantruming. I know they get out of cage time, but how much? And how old are they? Frankly, I think one of the reasons he's doing this is the fact that it gets the door opened for him. Even if he doesn't actually come OUT of the cage, that's beside the point. It still GETS opened, and he might, after all, just stand the smallest chance of perhaps being brought back out. Because, after all- the door is opened, isn't it? And that's what happens every single time they get to come out ;D As hard as it may be, ignore it totally. Put a water bottle up for if he dirties the water too, too badly, and just leave the litter where it lays, unless it's actually OUTSIDE the cage. Do NOT open the door again once he's in there til it's time to come back out again, or obviously if there's an emergency. It will take a while(likely at least 2-3 weeks ), but he WILL stop when he realizes it's not getting that door open again. By opening it, you are essentially rewarding the unwanted behaviour.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2011 17:38:01 GMT -5
It sounds like he's tantruming. I know they get out of cage time, but how much? And how old are they? Frankly, I think one of the reasons he's doing this is the fact that it gets the door opened for him. Even if he doesn't actually come OUT of the cage, that's beside the point. It still GETS opened, and he might, after all, just stand the smallest chance of perhaps being brought back out. Because, after all- the door is opened, isn't it? And that's what happens every single time they get to come out ;D As hard as it may be, ignore it totally. Put a water bottle up for if he dirties the water too, too badly, and just leave the litter where it lays, unless it's actually OUTSIDE the cage. Do NOT open the door again once he's in there til it's time to come back out again, or obviously if there's an emergency. It will take a while(likely at least 2-3 weeks ), but he WILL stop when he realizes it's not getting that door open again. By opening it, you are essentially rewarding the unwanted behaviour. Sherry hit the nail right on the head.. I have 2 kits and they started doing the same thing about 2 weeks ago! I went out and got one of those huuuge kitty litter pans and cut a hole in the side for them to get in and out of. It covers half the bottom floor of their FN. Before that I had 2 litter pans in their cage, one on each floor - one of the stupid corner ones and a regular high-back.. they would get behind them, push them over, dig in them, throw stuff around.. so messy! But it seemed like designating the bottom floor with the huge litter box really helped a lot.. I have not witnessed a single littler-chucking tantrum since. Plus, it's big enough that they can't flip it over or get behind it. I also put it underneath one of the shelves so it's dark inside.. sort of private. They like that. They would always throw these tantrums in the middle of the night. They wanted to play, and I wanted to sleep. For awhile I was getting up at 3-4 am and taking them out for a few minutes just to let them run off some steam and let me get back to bed. They learned quickly that all they have to do is start dumping stuff over and I'll come running. Since then I've just ignored them when they throw tantrums and they've pretty much stopped. I'd clean up in the mornings when I woke up and let them out. When they start learning your schedule and what times they'll be getting let out, it should calm down.. you'll still get the occasional tantrum with stuff knocked all over, but no where near as frequent hopefully!
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Post by Sherry on Apr 3, 2011 17:39:53 GMT -5
Oh, you'll definitely still get the odd one. Vincent still chucks his litter the odd time, and he's 3 years old now But for the most part, they are really good
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Post by littlewiseowl on Apr 3, 2011 17:44:44 GMT -5
The thing is, I HAVE been ignoring him. That's kind of why I'm at a loss... He just does it all the time no matter what.
He just likes to do it for funzies, I guess...
They're both 1 year and 3-4 months. Play time is couple hours at various intervals of the day. Some days longer, some days shorter.
He doesn't really do it once being put back in the cage. He'll usually go to sleep after play time and once he wakes up and notices clean things like fresh water. Or heck, poopy litter, IT'S TIME TO DIG. Except NOT in their digging boxes.... I have to leave the room because I get so irritated...
My female used to do this as a kit but grew out of it. She's an angel now. My boy on the other hand... An angel at first but now he's evil.
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Post by littlewiseowl on Apr 3, 2011 17:46:36 GMT -5
When they start learning your schedule and what times they'll be getting let out, it should calm down.. you'll still get the occasional tantrum with stuff knocked all over, but no where near as frequent hopefully! They learned my schedule for a year... He just started this up in the last couple months. I began providing tubes, more toys, dig boxes in the cage to amuse them at night... Poopy litter is still much more fun though. Edit: This is irrelevant but just a nice addition to my bad day... He just squirted me with chick guts.
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Post by Heather on Apr 3, 2011 17:50:20 GMT -5
Fun-Go doesn't believe that any water dish is allowed to have water in it. It's his whole life....water dishes. You snorkel in them, you dig in them, you stuff blankets in them but you don't drink in them... Seriously, it does indeed sound like tantrums or boredom (I'm not saying that he has a real reason to be bored, I'm just saying he thinks he's bored). He knows that if he makes a big enough mess you will come in and let him out and clean up his mess and give him fresh play material. It's a win/win situation in his eyes. They're too smart these wee ones . ciao
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Post by littlewiseowl on Apr 3, 2011 17:53:07 GMT -5
Usually when he makes a mess and it NEEDS cleaning, I take him out and put him into a small time out cage.
They also somehow leak their water bottle (they have a dish and bottle). I don't know HOW but my female does something to make it drip out within two hours.
I need a dig-proof, leak-proof, ferret proof water dispensing thing...
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Post by littlewiseowl on Apr 3, 2011 18:00:05 GMT -5
Perhaps this is just bugging me more today than anything because I've been so crazy busy... I've bee cleaning, have a migraine, gotta study for anatomy test...
I wish I was a ferret... All i'd have to do was play, eat, sleep, poop, dig all the water out of the dishes and destroy everything I feel like destroying... What a nice life. lol
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Post by Heather on Apr 3, 2011 18:01:42 GMT -5
Good luck ;D ;D Let me know when you find one....I need it for Fun-Go and Odin....hmmm maybe that says it all. Both are white, both are alpha for their business, both can be really sweet but are equally annoying By the way...dirty litter is much more fun to play in...it has stink on it ciao
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Post by littlewiseowl on Apr 3, 2011 18:08:30 GMT -5
Don't forget dirty, WET, swollen litter... It makes a fine mud.
It's funny too... Maynard doesn't LIKE being wet. He freaks out (and not in a really happy way) and wipes his face off everywhere. But then goes back and dunks his entire head into water again.
Maybe I just don't know what happy is... lol
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Post by knackers on Apr 3, 2011 18:11:14 GMT -5
Going off of what Heather said about the dirty litter being stinky, what sort of litter do you use? I've heard that stove pellets are really good for absorbing odor and wetness.
As for the water bottle, all I can suggest is to make sure to check and see if it has any leaky spots, holes, etc.
Good luck! I hope you get all of this sorted out.
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Post by littlewiseowl on Apr 3, 2011 18:19:51 GMT -5
It leaks only after they've done SOMETHING to it... I watched it and it won't leak. I watched them drink from it and it didn't leak...
Only once I witnessed my girl NOSE BUTTING the tube where the water comes out. I can only imagine it's stuff like that that makes it leak horribly when they're left alone with it...
And I use Yesterday's New litter. It's absorbent a good litter... Also a fun digging substance too. Especially with feces and urine in it.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 3, 2011 19:25:11 GMT -5
They love to get smelly with their own and others urine. Especially at this time of year for the males. Even the neutered ones Vincent's favourite passtime right now(and has been for a couple of months actually!) is to dig and tear, and then poke his head through the wet with urine potty paper Even though they don't have their "boy bits" left, they still have a pituitary gland that tells them it's time for rut
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Post by littlewiseowl on Apr 3, 2011 20:22:12 GMT -5
Boys are gross.
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