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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2014 1:50:05 GMT -5
On January 12,2014 I rescued two deaf girls...... Topsy & Turvy ....... So named because of the head flipping they do .... You would think they are trying to tie themselves up into a knot ...... They literally are Topsy & Turvy.... LOL .......Topsy is about 10 months old and Turvy is about 9 months old... I was told they had serious behavior issues and were aggressive in play and had no manners because they had never been taught...... So I contacted my AWESOME :-*mentor and she gave me a lot of great tips and things I should and shouldn't do ..... I kept the girls in quarantine for a week..... They are kibble fed some sort of Cat food I was told it was High quality but I am not sure as I have never heard of these brands......
I have a three story Ferret Nation cage and I sectioned off the top area for them..... Had to start with Litter boot camp..... And Boy do these girls not like there cage>........ They bite and dig at the cage...... The Water Crock..... There Litter and there food........ Drives me crazy..... It looks like they are going to either break there teeth or they are trying to dig to China ..... Anyways... I was told to let them be out all day until time for them to go bed.... (which is what I do for My Pixie & Gus) I had to put them in a playpen during there quarantine..... I have never heard such sounds before in my life... I thought these two girls were killing each other.... But when I check on them..... They are just running around chasing each other...... not even playing rough... just yelling and screamingO_O. ... I was so worried about it I had to ask my mentor and find out why this was happening..... After her explanation and much googling....I find that Deaf Ferrets Just scream and hiss and Dook Super Loud..... Most are VERY VERY VOCAL .... and some are mute.......
Started offering them little drops of oil on my finger and them putting them down..... so they get the idea as hands are nice .... Offering them there kibble also.......
Made a batch of Soup up for them..... started offering very little at a time...... Turvy seemed to like the taste right away....... Topsy.... was a little more skeptical .... I have now got them on eating at least an ounce of soup at a time....... Although today..... Turvy crawled into Gus & Pixie's part of the cage and just started eating huge chunks of chicken .... ate probably two pieces.... I was SHOCKED..... So this evening I offered soup again.... Topsy ate TWO OUNCES and Turvy her one ounce..... I weighed them on Friday the 17th of Jan. and Topsy weighs 1.89 lbs and Turvy weighs 1.59 lbs.
After there quarantine was over I started letting them play together and they get along GREAT ..... Still very loud... But loving the new friends to play with...... and what do you know... I think Gus is smitten with Topsy... I always find him chasing her and snuggling with her.... LOL..... So today I decided to integrate them together and opened up the top shelf so they could all be together........ Wouldn't you know it... they all want to sleep in the very bottom hammock ......
I am hoping that by opening up this new thread that I can get some feed back from others who are more knowledgeable than I am on Deaf Ferrets and the correct way to train them to not bite humans....... I will also update there switch and will welcome any feedback any want to share........
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2014 0:02:04 GMT -5
So Topsy & Turvy have been eating up there soup rather well...... In the AM Topy ate 2 ounces and Turvy ate 1 ounce...... in the afternoon I offered there kibble to them and only Turvy ate a little kibble and then decided she didn't want it anymore .... So in the PM for dinner Topsy ate 2.4 ounces and Turvy ate 1.5 ounces ..... So I am wondering what anyone thinks of just taking there kibble and keeping them on the soup.... They are housed together with Gus (dance) and Pixie (giggle) and they eat franken prey..... Actually yesterday as I was cleaning the cage and during there roaming time... Turvy climbed into the cage and ate about two pieces of chicken chunks about the size of a half dollar.... Let me know what anyone thinks....
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Post by Sherry on Jan 23, 2014 1:32:51 GMT -5
Sounds like a plan Just keep an eye that they are eating well. Also start them with slivers both in the soup and on the side
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Post by Heather on Jan 23, 2014 15:10:32 GMT -5
There is nothing like the "monkey see, monkey do" method of switching. I love it, used it for years. My business switched most of my newbies a lot faster than I ever could :banana: I agree with Sherry, keep a close eye on what they're eating at this point as they may be further switched than you thought they were. I had one boy whom I was in the process of switching...what a battle. Fight, spit...terrible. He had been turned in with no kibble, so switching it was a bit of a battle...For the first few weeks I was really concerned, but because I was that concerned about his lack of consistent eating (the only time he ate anything and it was poorly was on my lap being fed with a spoon)I was also weighing him. He was putting on weight??!! He stunk but all kibble fed ferrets stink...his coat was getting longer and softer??. I was watching him closely, he was never at the food bowl One day I caught him. He was making a fast one straight for the bedroom, behind the bed...what was he up to?? Something had obviously scared him. Listen, all was quiet...then I heard it...crunching, the sound of bones and meats. Peaked under the bed, couldn't see anything except a vague outline...got the flashlight. There was my Loki Bears ....with a rat, last nights dinner. He must have stolen it from the stash in the other cage when the cages were opened up in the morning (no point in putting a whole rat into a cage with someone who's barely eating soupy) That was Loki, he never did take to soupy except when he was ill. Whole prey, that was what he wanted....not bad for a 4 yr old ferret who'd never had anything but kibbles and Count Chocula cereal ciao
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Post by Sherry on Jan 26, 2014 10:52:59 GMT -5
Sounds like Frodo He switched himself as well! He never took to soup but does eat mince now at least.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2014 14:44:00 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2014 19:15:44 GMT -5
Ok.... I have to tell you... that on Friday Jan. 31st I was sitting on the couch and heard ... CRUNCH... CRUNCH..... went to see who was eating.... Topsy & Turvy ...... CHOWING on the bone in CGH...... so I decided to see what would happen if I just let them eat the same menu as Gus (dance) & Pixie (giggle).... They have eaten everything I have given them... no slivers & soup... straight to bone and all different proteins with one exception......(and this goes for Gus (dance) & Pixie (giggle) too) I cannot get ANY of my ferrets to eat ground turkey...... I have tried everything... no one wants to eat it.... so I think I will buy some turkey wings and see if I can get them to eat that instead.... They have one more day of Antibiotics left and then I will add Kefir to there diet.....If anyone mentor can tell me... Should I give it daily for like a week or just go back to the way I was giving before they got the crud..... I was giving them 1/2 tsp Kefir twice a week......
I have one problem with these deaf girls...... Topsy seems to want to bite ... she will just walk up to your leg, hand whatever and BITE..... Any one able to help me figure out how to teach her to not bite?
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Post by Thérèse on Feb 4, 2014 7:07:47 GMT -5
Ignore her if you can and if not, then 3 min (no more or she won't link it with the biting) in a time out (empty cat carrier). If she's missing out on fun she'll soon get the message
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2014 14:54:56 GMT -5
So The switch was apparently easier than I thought it would be ..... as they just switched themselves .... LOL....
Truvy gets really freaky at times and just freaks out and hides and then when you try and get her she bites and bites hard..... I know she is deaf so I always try to come at the from the front..... but I Don't know why just lately she seems spooked by something and wants to go hide... Anyone have any similar issues like this with deaf ferrets that can give me some advice?
I have one more question to put to you all..... I have only given my ferrets egg yolks in the past.... My daughters mentor said that you should give the whole egg... so I split an egg between Gus (dance) & Pixie (giggle) ..... and one egg between Topsy & Turvy ... I mixed it with there Turkey Hearts and everyone ate it up.... but about 20 min later... my Pixie (giggle) threw EVERYTHING up .... two big piles of it (bounce)...... Then acted like she didn't feel good ...... She has threw up before... Once when I gave her two ounces of liver.... My mentor said that it was probably to rich for her and to split it up into one ounce feedings.... so I have every since..... Could she possibly be allergic to the egg whites? I am just going to give the yolks from now on until I can figure this out but if anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate the input......
Thanks all
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