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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2013 14:05:55 GMT -5
How many of you take your ferrets for walks outside on a leash on and harness?
I have a leash and harness, that we originally bought for Serenity... but she won't wear it, and always manages to squirm and squirm until her front legs and paws slip through until the entire harness has slipped down around her chest or belly....
Malcolm on the other hand, will wear one, and does not squirm like she does to get out of it. So the other day I let him run around the room with it on and then snapped the leash in place and lead him on a little walk around parts of our Apartment that they both have not been allowed into yet... just to see how well he might handle being walked on a leash.
To be honest, I do not think he cared much that he was on a leash. I think he was just more excited to be seeing new surroundings and wanted to explore EVERYTHING!
We roamed around a couple rooms for a few minutes and then walked back to the playroom where I set him loose once more to play tag with Serenity; who was waiting for us at the baby gate in the doorway!
But this got me to wondering whether or not it would be fair to take Malcolm out for walks while leaving her behind. Since its so much trouble getting her small body fitted into a harness that she can't wriggle herself out of... every time we try to put her in one, she just rolls and drags herself all over the floor, and squirms and wriggles until shes gotten it slipped off or slipped down around her chest or belly...
I believe she is a natural born free roamer and most definitely has a mind of her own and makes it very clear to us what she wants or does not want.
But what do some of you do, when you have one who refuses to wear such things, while the other will?
Also how often do some of you put any of yours on a leash and take them for walks outside?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2013 14:21:13 GMT -5
I take my boys out for walks on occasion. I'm in Florida so it's quite often too hot to do so but my boys love it when they get to. Mine don't actually 'walk' though so much as run around like crazy lil things! That being said we only go to the backyard or to a nice safe grassy area in the neighborhood. I agree that it isn't fair to take one and not the other as they can smell the outside on each other and get sad but I do take one at a time. I made the mistake of taking out all 4 at once and it was like a ferret tornado! I have one boy who doesn't like being outside much and usually wants to be held so u just have to get use to who likes what and adjust their outside time accordingly. As for the harness issue - I have a tiny boy who use to ALWAYS wriggle out of his harnesses. I use an H style harness and make sure it is tight enough to keep him in while not choking him. You can make the harnesses tighter than u think and most H style harnesses I've come across can get really small. None of my boys really like the harnesses but some are less concerned by them. U can have them wear them around the house to get use to them but watch them as they can get caught on things and get stuck. I use to do this but now I just throw them in a harness and get them outside as quickly as possible and they usually get distracted enough not to care anymore. I also have an enclosed stoller for my boys but last summer my newest edition managed to rip some of the mesh enclosure free from the stroller and until it gets fixed it serves as a hides bed.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2013 19:27:13 GMT -5
my ferrets could easily slip out of the leashes you see in petstores, i remember having a certain kind from my first ferret when i was a kid... i found it on amazon its the only thing that works. it says it locks in place but i found that it can loosen, so i put a big knot before the latch so it cant loosen up.. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002ASGZE/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1this leash is also really good because there is no limit as to how loose/ tight it can go. i make it so that i can fit 1 finger underneath the neck part and chest part. i also bought 2 extendable dog leashes that i hooked on to their actually leashes, this way they have a lot of freedom and can really walk around and go far without me having to move every time they take a step, since the ferret leash is not long at all. also since now i have 2 ferrets it would be impossible to walk them without the extendable leashes because they go in different directions. i live in NJ so for the most part its either too hot or too cold for them, i put my one ferret in the snow last year, he shivered and wanted up lol, (he also tends to get tired faster than my 8 month old, so when my 1 year old get tired,he will crawl on my legs, they let you know when they are tired.) my newer ferret has yet to see snow so im excited for this winter! i take them as much as possible in fall and spring.. so right now im taking them a few times a week. they love it, exploring and being outside, digging everywhere, playing in the leaves. sometimes they walk really well and will be following behind me. either way im starting to have to go to secluded places because i get A LOT of attention! ... well no ME.... but my babies lol o and btw... my 2 ferrets look like yours! how cute! |
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Post by Sherry on Sept 28, 2013 9:21:29 GMT -5
We've got a couple who can get out of any halter, so they only go out when we are holding on to them. Others are fine going for a walk.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2013 12:58:42 GMT -5
I think maybe we'll try it at some point... at least just with Malcolm for now.
We're both too afraid of Serenity getting out of a harness and running off to explore and us not being able to catch her. She really is a ferret with a mind of her own. She doesn't like being held and petting or scritched, and instead will squirm about in your arms until she either has a chance to jump free, or you set her down... while Malcolm on the other hand will just lounge contently and let you pet him and scritch the back of his neck... he especially likes being scritched on the side of his belly right in front of his hind legs and starts licking your hand as soon as you do it. So he is much more comfortable with human interaction then Serenity is and so I think he would tolerate a brief outside walk on a leash...
I mentioned to my girlfriend that... we could try just carrying Serenity outside, so she has a chance to get the smells, and feel some direct sunlight... but then with the way she squirms in our arms to get free or jump down, my girlfriend told me she would be too scared to even carry Serenity outside.
I think... perhaps...
Our next major purchase for these two is going to be one of the 8 panel playpens. That way, we can take them to the local park which is just down the street, set up the playpen in the grass and let them play while we sit and watch with a nice picnic lunch!
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Post by Heather on Sept 30, 2013 14:00:29 GMT -5
Get the 11 panel...it's worth it and they will stay in it better.
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2013 21:56:00 GMT -5
When I first took Gwin home, he didn't fit in his leash at all either. After a few weeks he gained some weight in a growth spurt and finally couldn't wriggle out with his arms. I had to wait until then to take him out but now he goes out almost daily and he loves it! It helps him burn off all the energy he has and I even have a special patch of clean dirt he gets to play digging in now. I want a playpen too, though, so I don't have to keep Gwin on the leash and he's free to play a little more. They're just expensive right now and I don't have the money to spare, but he might get one for Christmas....
But yeah! I think it's great. Maybe see if you can make the harness smaller by hand! It can't be too complicated to adjust it/alter it so it fits her better!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2013 23:40:19 GMT -5
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Post by katt on Oct 1, 2013 2:28:28 GMT -5
I take my boys out. We go out more frequently in the summer because it gets so cold here in the winter, but we romp in the snow a few times a year too. Koda loves walks. Kenai...is a big scaredy cat, but he evanually has fun.  haha |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2013 3:52:24 GMT -5
My husband and I take our ferrets for walks on leashes that are fasented into a harness. We found this video rather helpful
about minute 7 will show you how to fasten the leash if you don't want to go through the whole video.
Our Sparky LOVES LOVES LOVES going on walks. we took them to the park and Roxy was still new to the whole leash thing, but Sparky has figured out that a leash means he can sniff everything he wants, as long as it's with in reach. We walk both of them on 6 foot leashes, and it's been working just fine.
To train Sparky, we did the slip knot thing in the video - then we would sit in the living room and let him thrash around. Honestly, that doesn't do much. It does teach him to trust us because as soon as he would climb into our lap we would pick him up and tell him it's okay. So that's his signal now if he's tired or scared. He'll try to scamper up our leg. (it's actually kinda cute ;3) --- it was until about the 3rd or 4th time out that it clicked that the leash can be a good thing. it wasn't until recently that we actually got him to walk more on his own. Before we would be walking threw the grass and he would decided to lay down (flat ferret!) so my husband would drag him a little then he'd hop back up. (We got Sparky in January and would say we started training him in...Feburary or March... and summer was busy so he didn't get out on walks much..)
Hope that helps - My husband will usually walk Sparky and I'll walk Roxy - we haven't had much success one of us walking both of them yet, because Roxy's still figuring it out.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2013 13:16:04 GMT -5
I used to have my ferrets on a harness I have been taking my ferrets out to hunt for many years. About 8 years ago one of my ferrets big Logan got hung up in a ground squirrel burrow. I spent close to 5 hours digging him out. Never knew how long and deep those burrows could be before that. Now no harness but trained to a squeaker Big Logan hunting in the field  Big Logan and scooter at the creek  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2013 16:01:03 GMT -5
What do they usually hunt, Rambo?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2013 16:27:15 GMT -5
Heather! - The 11 panel on our List! Though for sake of budgeting we might have to start with the 8 panel and then get the 3 panel "add-on" a little later on! But we'll see! Mother of Ferrets! - Yes that leash is on our list now!  Beckster! - Thanks for that video, its very informative! Going to have mt girlfriend watch it when she gets home from work tonight!
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Post by Sherry on Oct 1, 2013 18:55:46 GMT -5
I believe he's a rabbiter henryqueue
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2013 19:32:27 GMT -5
Back in Texas we hunted rabbits and mice. Scooter and Logan were also very fond of crawfish. I have so many stories about their hunting trips. But scooters second crawfish he ever caught was the funniest. When that crawfish latched onto his lip with its pincer and scooter jumping flipping fuzzed out dooking hysterical dance was one of the funniest things I ever witnessed. Since moving to Arizona ten years ago. They down to me taking them out and hunting ground squirrels. But only after ginger our dog. Has searched out the area for rattle snakes. If ginger gives the sign for snake I do not let the ferrets out. The ferrets don't seem to have no natural fear of the snakes and the bite from the rattler can be fatal to them. Lost my silky to a snake about 9 years ago. She died an agonizing death. It was a hard lesson to learn. Without a trained dog to watch over them I would never attempt to let them hunt again here. It was several years before I took them back out again after silky died then for a while it was only in the snow ( no chance for snakes in the snow ) Not all my ferrets have been hunters a lot of the rescues over the years never hunted or ate a natural diet. But they did get to live as ferrets that got to dig and tunnel and have plenty of out of cage time they didn't have before coming to live with is. This is silky on top  Silky  In the ferret run    |
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