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Post by taratee on Apr 9, 2011 18:46:26 GMT -5
I went to change the ferrets bedding today and found that the brand new bedding had been chewed on  i dont think its the boys doing this i believe its tessie, she might still be teething as far as i know. i dont know if i could discourage this behavior or stop it, i know some fabrics she might just find tempting. i was also wondering if she was maybe not chewing other things as much? maybe its boredom? |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2011 19:16:03 GMT -5
I'd say boredom or teething. Try using some thick fabrics like jeans, then reintroduce bedding later. Is every pooping okay? Sorry about your bedding  |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 9, 2011 21:15:38 GMT -5
If she's teething, it should hopefully stop soon. And most do outgrow it. But in the interim, I think I might use something a bit more durable.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Apr 9, 2011 21:24:28 GMT -5
i had a CHRONIC fabric chewer once. my Lemmy. he chewed on EVERYTHING. even JEANS! it got so bad that i had to make him a bed out of shredded newspaper and that is what he slept in until he was about 5 months old. so try the jeans. sometimes it is a certain type of fabric that they like to chew on more than others. for example, Sonny used to chew on the furry type soft blankets but not the fleece. it sucks because you don't trust them anymore and then you have to check their blankets all the time. here is my Lemmy in his fabric chewing days. this was actually his first day when i brought him home. i had to take this blankie away from him afterward because he ate it. he chewed a hole in Mr. Cow too and i had to sew him up and take it away from him until he was older. he was obsessed with Mr. Cow for 8 + years right up until the day he died you could NOT touch Mr. Cow.  |
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Post by taratee on Apr 9, 2011 22:39:10 GMT -5
OMG BABY shes going into her own special cage tonight with some jeans and ill see from there where im going next
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Post by miamiferret2 on Apr 9, 2011 22:56:46 GMT -5
I think it happens when they are taken from their moms too young. But I have had small babies that didn't chew on cloth though. Maybe if you give her chicken wings or an N bone or cheweasel that will satisfy her urge to chew?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 9, 2011 23:39:52 GMT -5
Agreed Miamiferret. From everything I've read over the years, the "chewers" tend to be those removed far too early. Not all, but I assume some fuzz are more emotional immature than others, like any other species. Kind of like cats that never get over sucking on fabric- those were removed to early as well |
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Post by taratee on Apr 9, 2011 23:44:22 GMT -5
for tonight after pumpkin-ing her i put her in "sick bay" with jeans and part of a chicken wing and some n bones we shall see how things go tomorrow
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2011 23:57:31 GMT -5
Hopefully shell grow out of it  |
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Post by angelfish on Apr 10, 2011 11:33:42 GMT -5
Sherry, did you chewers ever stop chewing? Pita (about 7 months) seems to have taken up chewing lately and I have no idea why. Playing, giving her attention, wings...nothing seems to keep her from chewing. She's taken up chewing their plastic tube and I just found that she's broken the plastic between every ring in half of the tube. It can't be for lack of attention because she'll run off in the middle of playing with me and starts chewing on the plastic tube.
She gets wing tips and chunks of meat but will chew on her bedding or plastic instead. I'm not sure where to get cheweasels or N-bone, though I'm not sure if those will help.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Apr 10, 2011 11:43:42 GMT -5
most of them do stop chewing on fabric. they will outgrow it. i have had repeat offenders but i find that it is only with certain fabrics. so when i find a blanket that they don't eat, i stick with that one and i'll go out and buy another one for spare. that's why i tend to use the same blankets for my ferrets throughout their whole lives. i tend to think of ferrets and chewing fabric as a little kid that is attached to his pacifier: if you take it away from them but give it back in a short amount of time, they'll go right back into the bad habit. but if you remove the temptation for a long period of time, they forget about it and move on. OMG Lemmy also chewed all the plastic that separates those big plastic tubes. Sonny doesn't even play in them. he likes to take meat into the tubes and that is where he eats sometimes.  its really gross and it is hard to have to clean those plastic tubes out. i don't know why he does this because he has 5 yes FIVE feeding dens that he can choose from. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2011 12:40:39 GMT -5
Trixie chewed fabric as a kit. Then stopped. Then started back up again around 6-7 months. I think the fabric triggered her. Then she took up eating socks |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 10, 2011 14:22:45 GMT -5
I've been really lucky in that the only "chewer" I had was a cat, and he never chewed, he sucked on cloth. And no, he never outgrew it, but then he was never well either. He had a severe heart murmur.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2011 16:34:29 GMT -5
I had a cat like that. He was the runt and his mother refused to feed him. So he was bottle fed. He would ALWAYS suck on blankies - it was pretty funny  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2011 19:22:23 GMT -5
I have a chewer too, though he started when he was about 1 1/2. I had to take out all blankets and just got some pocket hammocks and the pirate ship bed. He prefers fleece, but will chew the sheepskin too. ><
He doesn't do it anymore since I got him onto the cheweasels. I think he was just bored and wanted to chew on things.
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