Tasha
Junior Member
Posts: 101
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Post by Tasha on Oct 22, 2018 0:07:28 GMT -5
I’ve read that I have nothing to worry about but I just want to double check. I have 6 ferrets, all raw fed and free roam during the day. They only ever go in their cage for eating and sleeping. I feed them the same food in 3 separate bowls in the bottom level of the cage. I’ve tried more bowls and less bowls and it doesn’t really seem to make a difference, they always end up fighting over the same piece of food. My lady ferrets are particularly loud when they are fighting but usually when I check on them they aren’t even touching each other. Is it possible they are just screaming because they are mad? I have seen them nip at each other but there’s never been blood. They get along perfectly fine aside from feeding time. Is this normal?
Separate question: One of my ferrets scratches and bites at the cage every morning and he’s begun to teach the others to do it too. The only reason I can’t have them out of their cage at night is because they live in my bedroom and they like to munch on toes. They have been scratching a lot lately and it almost seems like a temper tantrum but they keep waking me up super early in the morning. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to stop it? If not I can just suck it up lol
Thanks!!!
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Oct 22, 2018 5:53:12 GMT -5
Mine do not fight over food so i can't help you there. I have on occasion seen them pull meat out of the other's mouth---but this is even rare.
They say ferrets are crepuscular(twilight)--most active at dawn and dusk. Try putting a dark blanket over their cage and see if that helps. I drape dark fabric over my cages---not for that reason though(trying to prevent adrenal disease).
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Post by msav on Oct 22, 2018 8:44:33 GMT -5
As for the fighting over food, mine out grew it when they got older. Here is a video of Bleu when he was a baby. protecting his food
the cage raging unfortunately mine have not outgrown that, Taz Still does it, however since Bleu passed Away he has started swimming in his water bowl more instead, It is quieter, but makes a terrible mess.
the best you can do it tire them out late at night, try blanket rides or some other kind of mental stimulation, You may get to sleep in longer if you are lucky.
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Post by Sherry on Oct 22, 2018 9:32:22 GMT -5
Mine still fight over particularly choice morsels. As for the cage raging, best bet is to simply ignore it. If you even so much as look in their direction it will increase. If you can use a cage cover it might help.
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Tasha
Junior Member
Posts: 101
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Post by Tasha on Oct 22, 2018 10:28:09 GMT -5
Thank you everyone for your responses! That video sounds exactly like my babies, they are all still a year or younger so hopefully they will grow out of it! As for the cover I have the cage in my closet and I USED To have a blackout curtain until one of the stinkers decided they would use it to get into the ceiling! For now I just put a blanket over the front but it only covers part of the cage, I will definitely work on getting something better!
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Post by Heather on Oct 22, 2018 11:25:36 GMT -5
As far as bickering over food...not likely. I put some mice in with Lady Lola (7 yrs) and her daughters (4 yrs) and for whatever reason 1 of the 5 mice was the chosen one. All h*ll broke loose. The screaming, the hissing, the scuttling and swearing....in the end each got a piece and went off to their separate corners....the rest of the meal went without incident??!! ciao
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Post by crazylady on Oct 22, 2018 12:19:16 GMT -5
lol the same thing happens here Heather lol a group of four jills all home in one one particular piece ( even though there is a bowl full 3 for each girl ) then its a four way tug of war they each get a sliver then move to the dishes and eat as if nothing has happened lol Bev
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Post by msav on Oct 23, 2018 8:36:55 GMT -5
I have had that happen as well, however I guess mine got a bit more civil as they aged. if the choice piece was taken, mine would sneak around and steal it from the other, normally after a hunk was taken and the other was busy eating that.
When they were less than a year old they used to draw and quarter mice if someone did not get a piece they would pursue the others to try and get a piece of the mouse.
When they got older I guess they knew that there would always be enough.
I am down to 5 ferrets now and 3 of them don't care much for whole prey, and they don't really steal from each other when it comes to food. Bleu was the most food possessive and now that he is gone there's not much fighting over food.
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