Free roaming food options advice

[RedSky]

What do you all feed during 'playtime' or for those that have free roaming ferrets?

I'm in the UK and trying to find something for her to eat during the day that won't cause my partner to start complaining about rotting chicken wings, chunks of liver or beheaded mice under our bed, in the wardrobe, in his bedside table etc.

Normally I take the food out of her cage, put it out of reach, let her run around and put her back with the food every few hours. But she's a bit of a spoilt princess and if you can't mind read that she wants the shower on, the wardrobe door open or the taps turning on she gets a bit... erm... bitey. Add in the extra moodiness from being hungry and she's not much fun. So if she doesn't eat enough before coming out she can be grouchy in less than 30 minutes wanting food.

I've been giving her soupies in the hope that will do the trick, but the downside being that I worry about her teeth. Now she's started stashing mouthfuls of soup... That is a pain to try clean up, especially once it's dry.
I've tried treats, which work fine but I worry about how much it will unbalance her diet. And I don't think most of the treats are raw, so I worry about stomach upsets with raw and cooked.

Any suggestions?

[abbeytheferret6]

I am kind of slack when it comes to preventing ferrets from stashing---but way better than what I used to be.

Do you have an extra closet or a pantry that you could close the door while she ate for a few min?

I have a ferret room, so it is nice to close door and feed them in  room then let them out after a while---extra food can be put in fridge or whatever. I lock my ferrets up at night in their room, so they do stash supper food all around the room. I clean up next morning.

If you work, I guess you could leave out some freeze-dried after she is full of breakfast for a lunch snack. 

[raynebc]

I second FDR as a good option. Stella and Chewy's is pressure treated to kill pathogens, so it's at least a bit more sanitary than traditional raw meat.

[RedSky]

I'm off work at the moment so trying to make the most of it and have her out as much as possible.
I have a herniated disc in my lower spine so I can't do much. Normally I have a scan around and get rid of any bits of food before my other half comes home but I can't physically do that at the moment.

She's been out about 5 hours, over an hour stashing toys, playing with a cat teaser a bit, doing her usual stuff then fell asleep in the bedside table. She woke up about 10 minutes ago so I've just put her back in her cage with some food. But she looks miffed and wants out, but also wants food... Can't win with her.
I'll leave her for about 15 mins then let her back out until it gets dark. Then she's locked in her cage for the night.

The problem is when she's awake and hungry and I don't know she gets a little... well moody. She's a spoilt Princess (aka brat) at the best of times. If the wardrobe door isn't open or she wants the tap in the bidet turning on, or the shower etc she comes to us then runs to it. Which is fair enough if we notice that she actually wants us and is not just running past as she often does. But if we don't 'listen' she comes back to get our attention in a more... erm... bitey way. Add in extra grumpiness from being hungry and she's a Tazmanian devil.

Freeze-dried in the UK isn't the easiest thing. I've googled, I've looked on Amazon. The best I can find has various fruit/veg in and is shipped from US, which means it costs quite a bit. I'm more concerned about the fruit/veg than the £20.

[Blue]

Hi RedSky, it's good to see you back again, although I hope your back heals quickly! I was looking at your sig line -- did Bolin join Mako at the bridge? I'm really sorry if yes. Was it related to his huge spleen?

[RedSky]

Hi Blue. It's nice to be back.
Yes, we lost Bolin. TBH it's the reason I haven't been on here for so long.
Nothing to do with his spleen, he recovered really well after that and we had some great memories with him at full strength.
He started coughing, although we only heard it about 3 times in the 4 or 5 days before we had him PTS. Nothing before that. I came home from work one day and found him unable to put weight on one of his front legs. I rushed him to the vets thinking it might be broken or sprained. They did an x-ray and found he had bone cancer which had already spread to his lungs. Nothing they could do. Vet advised we didn't wake him back up as the cough would get worse until he could no longer breath, and his leg was at great risk of breaking as the cancer had eaten away at the bone... All very horrible.
I'm sad to say I couldn't tell the vet to let him go. I had to call my partner and get him to do it. I physically couldn't say it though all the sobs.
We brought him home so we could all say goodbye before having him cremated. Korra cuddled up to him for a while in the cage, groomed his ears a bit then was happy to get on with life. Little sod even gave my partner a few bites because he was too busy crying to play with her. Don't know what we would have done without her to keep us going.

[abbeytheferret6]

So sorry to hear that about your little Bolin.
It tears our heart out when these little ones leave us.

[RedSky]

Thanks.

I feel bad for Korra being on her own. But she's not showing any signs of depression or grieving and it's been nearly 4 months. But as things are I can't bring any more home. It would be my partner having to take care of them and he took a lot of talking into to get Korra, Mako and Bolin in the first place. He loves Korra so much, and would do anything for her so her care isn't a problem. But he doesn't want more. Plus financially, I'm pretty much about to lose my job with my back problem... And then there's the issue that Korra isn't exactly sociable with new ferrets. Infact for a while we had to separate her from Mako as she kept beating him up quite badly. It wasn't until his back end started to go that she felt sorry for him and started babying him. So even if she got along with one to begin with, nothing to say she wouldn't change her mind... And she lived with Mako for years, they were rehomed together before they went back to the rescue then came to me.

Anyway, the meat is still in the freezer. I've read the more I disturb it the more crystals will form on it. So I'm leaving it alone for a few days, then I'll turn the pieces so the underside can dry out.

Sorry if grammar or spelling is bad, just take a few very strong painkillers and a little out of it.

[abbeytheferret6]

It sounds as if she is contented being a solo---all the food and all the attention:)

[RedSky]

I do honestly think she's happy enough on her own. She did occasionally play with Bolin but even then it didn't last long as she would bite too hard during play. I once had to squeeze the back of her jaws to get her to let go of his neck, he was on his back in a tube when they were playing and she grabbed him as though she was getting his scruff. He was thrashing around trying to get her off and making some awful sounds.

I just feel bad when she's in her cage on her own. Must be lonely and cold after being used to sleeping with two big boys for so long. I can't imagine that losing them didn't have an effect even if she hasn't really shown it. She was off colour after we lost Mako, not straight away so we were never sure if it was depression/grief or if she was actually ill but it passed whilst she was undergoing some tests at the vets. But this time with Bolin we haven't noticed a change. I did (and still do on colder nights) put a safe heat pad into one of her beds. She always has two or three sleeping options so if she's too hot she can move. I prefer one we have that doesn't fit in the microwave properly but it doesn't need a cover, don't get as hot as a snugglesafe heat disc (even with the cover on) but is nice and warm for upwards of 8 hours at a time. When it's warm it's nice and soft too, which means it ends up molding to your shape as it cools. I do use the snugglesafe discs too, but I always have their covers on then wrapped (or covered) again just so they don't get too hot while she's asleep on them and so she can't get to the disc itself as they can be quite hot (not instant burn hot though).

[Blue]

I'm so sorry about Bolin That must have been awful. Your ferrenthood has been really rough, I'm really sorry At least Korra is the one left behind -- it seems like she can tolerate being a singleton much better than either Mako or Bolin could have. That's so sweet that you got her a heating pad -- does she use it often? I do truly believe that some ferrets can be happy on their own. Maisie is an only child, and she hates other ferrets. She used to have a cagemate, so it's not like she was alone her whole life (he died before I adopted her). The ferret shelter mom who was trying to match a buddy up to Maisie said that Maisie probably enjoyed getting all the attention and reigning supreme over her territory. It sounds like Korra might be the same. I'm glad she seems to be doing well.