How Often Do You Clean? Replace Food?

[Abigail]

Hello, quick question!

I clean my ferrets food, water bowl, and ‘eating shelf’ once a day (am/ noon)I will wash the bowls with soap and water, and then give their fresh grind and throw what hasn’t been eaten (this is usually around 10am-noon). I then clean their shelf with vinegar water. When the PM feeding comes, I will give their next meal. If there is still some grind left, I will add less to it so they have enough until morning. If it’s bone / organ or heart night, I will usually throw the grind that hasn’t been eaten (if it’s quite a bit full), and then provide that food. At the PM feeding, I usually won’t clean the bowl because there’s usually very little grind left, so I will just add the next meal to it and by the following day everything is either gone, or there’s a small amount left. 

Does this sound alright lol? Or should I be cleaning that bowl completely out every morning and evening, and washing down that food shelf. 


Thanks!

[msav]

It depends on the temperature of the room, We also clean once a day, but we normally give food things a sniff, it is smells funky to us it is definitely funky to them. when it is warm in the room the food spoils more quickly. Water dishes are changed daily, we have spares so they go through the dishwasher. Cage pans are swapped out weekly and hosed off outside Again we have spares. bedding is cleaned weekly,  litter boxes deep cleaned weekly along with the cage.

lately we have been feeding them out of the cage. this keeps cage mess down.  We feed them at 6am and then again at 4pm.  We give them some meat chunks in the cage, but for the most part they do not eat them. So I am thinking that the 2 meals are enough for them.

[Sherry]

As I don't use dishes except for when they have organ(pureed) all I do is wipe down the shelf when it gets messy. Don't forget- weasels are also scavengers so can deal with older meats etc.

[abbeytheferret6]

1. Morning and evening changes for potties---I use paper towels---so, oh yeah they need changing like clockwork.
2. Daily to every other day for water changes. May just rinse out bowl or give a fresh one.
3. I do not feed in cages except my male at night---I can't let him roam the ferret room with the girls at night or anytime. It will not go well for them
4.  I am always washing blankies. I use them on the floor and put plates of food on them which get dragged off. My waardy takes food up to cages to eat and stores pieces on top levels beside potty, so I wash probably every other day---really just because I like to see fresh blankets in cage---not really necessary.
5. I do not wash my cages----I may wipe off the trays occasionally to freshen up smell but mine do not have accidents in cages If I have potties on levels.
6. I clean up left over foods every morning.

There may be a failure of any of the above except number 3

[crazylady]

Hi crazy Question how old are your ferrets ?
Bev

[Abigail]

I have a seven month old and an 11 week old . Miles was born May 12, 2018 and Kodiak was born December 24th, 2017 (but thats according to Marshalls, so I dont know for sure..)

[msplatypus]

It sounds like what your doing is fine.

Our bowls get washed at least once a day. They sometimes eat in the cage, but that area is mostly for serving food since we took the doors off. I thought it would be cute to sew matching fleece liners so we don't have a bare shelf that can just be wiped down (This was early ferrent-hood, when cute won over reality/functionality, and now I have a ton of adorable fleece liners that they seem to like, and by like, I mean pull up, and crawl under and sleep on the plastic bit ). We change those at least once a week, more than once if they are eating on them instead of stashing (but they stash like...80% of the time, and all over the house).

[crazylady]

Hi sorry I missed your reply remember dont keep them in a totally sterile environment they need to develop a good immune system and let the body fight off simple germs at 11 weeks old I would expect your little one to be eating 3 x a day if not four so there should not be much waste lol ( at that age they are garbage bins on paws ) the 7 month old should cope on two meals a day think wild ferret no one is disinfecting everything and no one is removing meat daily sure if it doesnt smell right remove it ( some of my disgusting hobs hide it in bedding and after a week believe me you know its there lol I still get filthy looks when I do a bedding change and find it they look at me as if to saw awww I was getting it tenderized lol) its amazing just what there immune systems can cope with once again sorry for not replying sooner
Bev

[Charlie]

Whatever he doesn't eat from his previous meal I will leave in there and add his next meal too. If the earlier meal starts smelling bad then I throw it out. I wipe the cage down daily and clean the litter twice a day. With 1 ferret it's definitely easier to keep his cage clean. I can imagine keeping a cage clean with more ferrets. I change his bedding weekly, sometimes sooner, if it's smelling ferrety. Lol

[malyfretka]

Organs, grinds, eggs get "plated" and those are washed when finished (no leftovers for that stuff). Whole prey and bone meats get put in their cage "feeding dens" which are 6x6 or 8x8 cardboard boxes. I like them square because you can use all 4 sides before pitching. Younger girls may take leftover prey to their "burrows" (down inside their blankets). My Little Old Ladies may take their small rodent prey out of their cage and hide it somewhere in their part of the ferret room (they are out all the time except when I'm sleeping). They've been known to leave them until completely dehydrated then pull them back out to snack on.
I cover their cage shelves with blankets so those get changed when they get too dirty. I only wash their sleeping blankets and hammocks once a month (unless there's a problem) - I find it really cuts down on "scenting" their dens, especially with the hobs (once they've "marked" it, they leave it unless I put in clean blankets then they get all greasy again.)
If needed, I use a 50/50 vinegar/water mix to clean and I also use hydrogen peroxide to wipe the sides of litter pans after scooping and to clean the "misses" and the territory markings off the floor. I use gates to separate areas and at least one of the girls has to re-mark the boundary every day.