Ferrets Who Don't Like the Outside World

[Deleted]

Hi! I'm new here, I've read most of the frankenprey material here but haven't had the chance to dive into the enrichment section yet.

I have a few topics I'd love advice on.

1. My four ferrets have never really enjoyed being outside, and when I try, two of them are terrified and the other two just wander back and forth sniffing the same strip of grass and then drag me back to the front door.

None of them follow me on their harness. 

I would love to bring them for walkies, especially as the weather is now finally starting to be nice again. But they just won't go for it, no matter what toys or treats I try to entice them with.

Any advice on this? They're all over two years old, and set in their habits.

2. I'd also like to know how to get them to like snorkeling, and in turn not despise bath time! They all scratch and give me huge puppy dog eyes when bath time comes around (despite it only being three times a year ...)

I've filled up easter egg cups with their favourite oil and floated them in water, but they just go for the oil and scramble out - sometimes nosing the oil toward themselves without even touching the water.

Like I said, the weather is getting nice (and hot) and I'd like them to have a way to cool down.

3. Free roaming.

Their cage is actually three double level cages with walls taken out and bolted together side by side. It's filled with blankets, toys, and stuffies, and we periodically buy them new, different toys. (Nothing with squeakers ... they hate them.) They also get playtime in the second bedroom (where their cage is) and the adjoining two hallways, where we spill their blankets, toys, and some old fridge shelves for climbing. We use baby gates to keep them out of the living room and kitchen. 

I'd love to have them have free reign of the apartment, but we have easily accessible cabinets and a reclining sofa, so they have to be confined to those areas. I'm wondering how to let them free roam and also have people be able to actually walk back and forth to the bathrooms. I do leave the cage doors open when we're home, but they also automatically just go back in there after maybe an hour. =p

Sorry for the wall of text. Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

[Heather]

1.....getting ferrets used to the outdoors...ferrets like cats don't necessarily walk on leashes. Start taking them in short little hikes but carry them to your destination and let them run home. Dose everyone with a bit of Rescue Remedy if you feel they're over the top stressed but this is a good method of getting acclimatised to the outdoors. Don't expect puppy or dog type reactions, some do but most do not.
2...Bath time is hated time...why bathe? The only time a ferret needs a bath is if they've rolled or played in something disgusting. Ferrets usually snorkel or play in water when it's their idea not ours. I let my guys play in the shower stall. They can come and go and they make a mess and they have fun. There's no soap involved, they just get rinsed and play in the shower water. I know that my ferrets have never been bathed in years.
3....Free roam ferrets often go back to the cage to sleep. It's a safe place. I just leave their cage doors open. My guys have full run of the whole house. We come and go without having any issues of the "forbidden places", bathrooms are off limits. If a ferret gets in they're picked up and shuffed out and the door is shut. No different than having a cat on board.
ciao

[LindaM]

Why do they get bath time, even though you seem to do it rarely? Ferrets do not need to be bathed. The only times they get a bit of a scrub is if they got into something yucky like poop or got something bad spilled on them, and then you try and get the job done with only warm water. If whatever got on them is very stubborn though, you can use a little bit of something like Johnson & Johnson's No Tears baby shampoo (ferret shampoos are wretched and will dry out their skin and make them itch more, also forcing the oil glands to produce more oil).

I find it a bit odd that yours would hate squeakers.. our ferrets all love them. And it's practically guaranteed that if you want a ferret to come running from a hiding place, unless they're deaf, to use a squeaker toy. My fluffballs have tons of squeaker toys, and they love squeaking them and stealing them from one another if one of them hears another having fun with one.

As for free roaming, my business free-roams early morning till midnight, we only put them in their cage at night because they might get into trouble without anyone to help them, and my hubby and I would really like to keep our toes.. and not find stuffed toys buried inside our legs from a certain two that would like to dig them open to put toys in there, lol. Ares is my leg digger, and Loki does his dad, this is only when someone is napping or sleeping and they're out. So, they get caged at night, during the daytime they sleep in our bedroom though, often under bedside tables or inside them, and in some of the drawers of my hubby's dresser. I have blankets and stuff placed in there for them.

Our home is ferret proofed, that said, no ferret proofing is ever complete. Only recently madam Athena, my alpha, decided to show me what a smart girl she is by using a pack of water bottles to jump onto a storage crate, to get onto the storage crate on top of it, to get onto my freezer, to jump onto the kitchen counter and have her pick of some goodies (I had a few bags of FDR treats on the counter), and throw them onto the floor. At which stage I heard her and stopped her fun.. she was sooooo mad. She's also used the bathroom waste bin to get onto the toilet, to get onto the toilet tank, to jump onto the bathroom counter and sit in the sink smacking bottles off. Therefor, ferret proofing is an ongoing responsibility for the lifetimes of your ferrets. They love puzzles, and there's no better puzzle than some ferret proofing.

When you have wee fluffers running about, you may wish to opt for a shoe-free home. Shoes get taken off when you enter and put up somewhere high so they do not step on tiny ferrets, nor do tiny ferrets nibble them and risk a blockage. We also walk very carefully in our home and are always wary of ferrets being around. Our guests must conform to these house rules as well. We do not leave any rubber or foam things around or in reach, this includes some of the most basic things that might slip the mind too, like the TV remote. Never leave medications or tubes of lotion/ointment/sauce, etc. in reach either. If they get in trash cans or waste bins, make sure you throw chemical things or saucy food items in a trash can they can't get into, keep the others for tissues, papers, and cardboard items product like packaging only. I'd also advise to keep an eye on your ferrets and let them show you how they did something and then proof the heck out of it, because once these wee mites learn something new, it's not forgotten easily.

You can use baby-proofing on cabinets to latch the cabinet doors properly. The reclining sofa on the other hand, is probably a deathtrap and I have no advice on that one, maybe one of the other members will be able to help with that.

[unclejoe]

Dusk and dawn. Eddie was my best walker ever but he did not like daylight. At night in our neighborhood we eventually could walk around the block, with him exploring some drainage culverts under flashlight, off the leash.  Most of our ferrets have done better in twilight.  Some just don't like going out.

[bishop24]

I find my ferrets like the quiet hours too. Car seem to freak them out... or they try to chase them.
Also leash training in the house helps. Putting their harness on a half hour before gets them used to it and try walking with the leash around the off limits areas. Could help with finding things to ferret proof and teaching them leash walking skills.
Oh and I recommend walking them on the same route outside. My guy absolutely loves walks but new areas freak him out.

And I second the never ending ferret proofing. I call it ferret resistant. Watch them and get down on their level to scope out new dangers.

And my guys hate water with a passion. One guy used to pee himself during baths. So I gave up on it. Sometimes I wipe down his guy area with a wet cloth cause it can get smelly. And washing bedding with scent-free hypoallergenic detergent helps with ferrety smells.

Hope this helps!

[crazylady]

Hi most ferrets prefer dusk and dawn as joe has pointed out why simple in the wild they hunt from dusk till dawn daylight hours are for hiding from predators and sleeping fortunately that is one thing the ferret farms cannot do they cannot breed out the natural hunting ability of ferrets it also makes you ask who would want them too they would loss there personality if they did lol take care bye for now
Bev

[Deleted]

Heather Thanks for the advice on outdoor time. I've been taking them out just onto our patio one at a time, since I don't exactly trust them out on the building's lawn without harnesses (and I don't trust the local animals, either. =p)

As to bath time, they get baths if they have an accident during playtime. They generally "accidentally" pee and poop in the hallway, and since it's narrow the others tend to run through it, and then everyone gets all ... gross. And so they get bathtime. I used to bathe them once every three months but stopped because I'd done more research into it. Now it's just for poopy accidents.

They're doing better with free roaming. A couple of accidents, of course. But that's to be expected.

LindaM Well, to be honest, just the two brothers, Fizz and Twitch, haaaaaaate squeakers. I have no idea why. I just bought a squeaky donut for them, more for the other two, but those two jumped at me and nipped quite hard. Didn't go for the donut, jumped over it and bit my hand. The other two play with squeakers like normal, stash them, beat them up, etc. It's quite strange.

As I said up above, they're doing better with free roam, and so are we. Bedrooms and bathrooms are offlimits, our bedroom because there are just so many things that could fall on them. We have quite a few electronics. They get the rest of the house, though, and Duke has found a new sleepy spot right behind our couch.


All of our shoes are in our closet at the entrance to our apartment. It's just big enough to stand in, so we can easily shove all of our (admittedly ample) shoes in there and just shut the door. As for ferret proofing, the only thing I'm worried about is our couch. It's a power recliner. We watch them like hawks during free roam since we can't limit their access to the couch without cutting them out of half of the apartment, due to its' layout. Duke sleeps behind it, and the others sometimes climb in the back. We NEVER recline or decline if the ferrets or out. I've looked quite closely and extensively at the inner workings of the couch, and the spaces are fairly wide, nowhere to get stuck that I can see. There's a little flap at the back that velcroes shut and sort of sags down that they like to lie down in, away from the mechanisms, but of course I'm constantly nervous and always take them out right away.

unclejoe I might try taking them out for walks at night, thank you for the suggestion! I never even thought about that. After all, the corner we're next to is quite busy during the day; the noise of traffic might be putting them on edge.

bishop24 Thank you so much for your response! I had one guy pee himself during a bath when he was just a baby. He still isn't a big fan. =p

I have baby friendly detergent for their sheets, and don't use dryer sheets at all. I'm currently just washing two of their blankets at a time (they have ... a lot) every month or so. Smells much better, lol.

crazylady Never thought about it that way. Thanks for the info! Gonna try evening walks now.

[unclejoe]

I find that most ferrets prefer twilight hours for walking, as in an hour before/after dawn/sunset. They may be worried about predators themselves. Whenever I walk one in daylight they tend to stay close to buildings and brush lines and not in open areas. They sure don't seem to like midday sun in the open.