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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2016 11:39:29 GMT -5
Hi everyone. So I have had my ferrets for 2 weeks now and they are so much fun but a few things I am wondering about and hoping I can get some feedback.
Right now I have them limited to the kitchen for playtime. I have a large kitchen so there is plenty of room for them to run and play. The seem very happy at play time and my husband keeps making these cool new toys for them to play with and they love it. I see a lot of people let the ferrets free roam the house or certain areas of the house. I would love to do this but the one guy - bandit - is very intermittent about when he uses the litter box. I keep it as clean as possible and then discovered he was going in an area of the cage so I put a second litter box in there and that seems to be "HIS". So during playtime he will just go on the floor even after numerous attempts at redirecting him to the litter box.
This leads me to the next question. I want to reward him for going in the litterbox with a treat but neither one of them will take a treat from me. Is there a trick to this?? I probably have the wrong types so I read a few other people posting about Orijen freeze dried treats which I plan to purchase.
Lastly, I purchased both ferrets at the same time and was told they were from the same litter. However, Marco is way bigger than Bandit and is much more outgoing at playtime. After an hour out of the cage, Bandit literally goes into the cage and passes out. I would think an hour is not that much time but he can't seem to handle much more at one time right now. I believe he is only about 3 months old, give or take a few weeks. So I am wondering if this is just an age thing or if maybe he is just a lazier ferret. We take them out twice per day for playtime and then they each get mushed up with hugs and kisses at various times of the day when they are awake. Both are males and they have a very large cage with a few toys in there for playing during the day. They do seem to chase each other around quite abit throughout the day but for short periods of time.
Would love to train them to come when called because Bandit is always trying to escape. And when he does, the chase is on. Marco just wanders around and doesn't try to hide, he just explores. Amazing how different they are but they are so darn cute and the whole family just loves them, the dog is still not sure what to make of them but she is getting there.
Thanks for any feedback. Donna
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Post by Aftershock on Jun 19, 2016 12:05:03 GMT -5
One thing I can say for litter box training is learn the signs of a ferret that is going to go! My boys get to roam our bedroom, and I can almost always catch them right before they go and put them in the cage. They have to go before they are let out. Another thing, don't super clean the box! They need to smell their own smell in the box or they don't realize they need to go in it. I clean the sides and empty it out, but I leave whatever smells are in the bottom. As for treats, try oils! I bet they would love some salmon oil as a treat! Mine decided that they want the coconut oil I use to moisturize my hands with. now they will just sit there and lick me forever asking for some more. Have you taken them to the vet yet? If you are worried they aren't the same age the vet can tell you for sure. My older boy is almost five months and wants a bit more out of cage time than my almost three month old. But I have my boys on a schedule that they are up at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm for feedings and my younger boy is only up for about an hour at a time. Honestly, I think each ferret is just different. Our older boy likes cuddles more and our younger war weasels like crazy all the time. Our older loves my huband and licks him everywhere all the time, and our younger has decided I'm his favorite and tries to steal my slippers. I really enjoy that our boys are like night and day! I think once you find a treat that works for them training them to come when called should be a piece of cake!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2016 12:13:26 GMT -5
hello. we have 3, 8 month old ferrets who are also only allowed to roam one room, due to the rest of the apartment not being ferret proofed and the fact they 2 of them still can't understand they are suppose to go inside the litter pan and not beside it.
if you keep the litter box TOO clean, they might not recognize it as a toilet area.
we reward ours periodically for going correctly, with ferretone. it came with the ferrets and we won't be buying it again. they get a few drops perhaps 3 times a week, to reinforce good behaviour.
two of our ferrets are related, and they are very similar in body shape and energy, they can do hours of playtime. our unrelated third is much bigger and retires after only 1.5 hours of play. ours also came with paperwork proving relations. although I'm sure there is a possibility of siblings being vastly different, I believe you are right to suspect that yours may in fact be from different litters.
as far as training them to come, I can't help there as I'm pretty sure 2 of mine are deaf and the third is hard of hearing.
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Post by Aftershock on Jun 19, 2016 12:18:58 GMT -5
Freakzter, you have deafies too?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2016 14:03:35 GMT -5
Freakzter, you have deafies too? yep. my two unrelated boys, Ed and Bonzai, who look like twins
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jun 20, 2016 6:00:54 GMT -5
If they r on kibble they will go more often,so u want to have a few litter boxes in each room,so they will not have to travel real far. I remember reading about a faithful ferret running all the way to it's cage to pooh ---how uncomfortable.
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Post by Aftershock on Jun 20, 2016 7:17:06 GMT -5
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Post by Heather on Jun 20, 2016 10:45:29 GMT -5
I'm not going to really touch the litter box thing out of cage. Multiple litter boxes, helping them into the litter box when you see them start to go. There is no real magical solution except for the solution for that ferret and that can be sketchy at best depending on the ferret. I"m not saying you can't get it to work, you can. During the winter my guys are very good about hitting the box, during the summer it's a full time job either cleaning up or stuffing little bums in the boxes. If you're in the US and have bought a ferret from a store your chances of having litter mates is next to zero. Kits from the farms are put in large holding pens prior to shipping and then stuffed into boxes/crates with no thought of siblings. They are then shipped to brokers, who again split them into shipping crates and then auction them to distributors, who then sell them to pet store distributors who then sell them to stores. Each time the kits are thrown into batches. They're sold by gender and colour. Stores make requests of colour, markings and gender. As there is no care taken to see that siblings remain in groups, there will be little to no chance of actually attaining a brother or sister. The numbers of kits leaving the manufacturer at any one time is staggering, mind boggling so chances of a sibling are none. ciao
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Post by crazylady on Jun 20, 2016 12:37:51 GMT -5
Hi Heather is correct can I just add with regard to your kit being tired after an hour boy your lucky lol most kits at that age simply eat poop and sleep lol when sleeping they are actually growing at that age you will see many growth spurts over the next few weeks and months and you will think wow where did my babies go ? you will also find they eat like horses just before a growth spurt lol I have 8 7 week old who are demolishing 3 pounds of meat per day lol take care bye for now Bev
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Post by katt on Jun 21, 2016 1:05:04 GMT -5
Salmon oil in a dropped bottle works great as a treat. Are you sure of your bigger ferret's age? The "birth certificates" they come with in the pet store are almost never accurate - for the same reasons Heather stated about litter-mates. Some stores also take on rescues/returns/adoptions and instead of adopting them re-sell them. You may well be lucky and have a mellow kit (esp if he is a Waardy), but I would also worry about potential health issues and whether he is actually a kit or perhaps older than you were told. Can you get a clear picture of his front canines for us? That helps with aging. Also, a vet check never hurts and any new pet should really get checked out anyways. It helps establish care at your vet and give you some good baselines to go off of if any illness happens later.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 3:37:08 GMT -5
If they r on kibble they will go more often,so u want to have a few litter boxes in each room,so they will not have to travel real far. I remember reading about a faithful ferret running all the way to it's cage to pooh ---how uncomfortable. Somehow Gizmo has favourite places to go. Sleeps in the bedroom and runs all the way to the potty in the hallway when he nees to go, even though there is a box in the bedroom too )
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 7:49:16 GMT -5
Salmon oil in a dropped bottle works great as a treat. Are you sure of your bigger ferret's age? The "birth certificates" they come with in the pet store are almost never accurate - for the same reasons Heather stated about litter-mates. Some stores also take on rescues/returns/adoptions and instead of adopting them re-sell them. You may well be lucky and have a mellow kit (esp if he is a Waardy), but I would also worry about potential health issues and whether he is actually a kit or perhaps older than you were told. Can you get a clear picture of his front canines for us? That helps with aging. Also, a vet check never hurts and any new pet should really get checked out anyways. It helps establish care at your vet and give you some good baselines to go off of if any illness happens later.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 7:53:52 GMT -5
I am not positive of their age. The guy at the pet store told me they just got a new batch in and they came all together. Can't be sure if he was lying or not. Bandit is a sleepy boy but he plays hard. He goes non stop for that time out of the cage. Last night they were out for 2 hours and he was still going non stop. But the second they go back in the cage, they eat and pass out. A vet visit is in the works. Not many vets near me that handle ferrets but I ran into a customer at the pet store who gave me the name of one not too far away.
Next time he is in that dead sleep, I will try to get a pic of his teeth.
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Post by Aftershock on Jun 21, 2016 7:57:49 GMT -5
I am not positive of their age. The guy at the pet store told me they just got a new batch in and they came all together. Can't be sure if he was lying or not. Just because they all come in together doesn't mean they are all related/the same age.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 8:00:37 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. Ordered some Orijen treats for them and will try that once they arrive. Amazing how the pet stores around here have absolutely the most horrible food and treats for ferrets.
I added a second litter box to the cage to stop Bandit from pooping all over. Seems to be working well. Last night he had one accident during play time and I caught him and put him right into the litter box and he jumped out at me so I put him back in and he happily attacked me. I could not help but laugh but I put him in again, he jumped out, ran down the end of the kitchen, ran back and then jumped in the box and pooped. Maybe I had a breakthrough with him?? LOL
Marco is just so amazing, I had the one litter box out for cleaning and he just ran up to the other one and went there. He rarely has an accident at all. I tend to let him wander around the house a bit because I trust him more. Need to work on Bandit so he can have a little more freedom.
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