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Post by PorkbunPrincess on Jan 2, 2021 19:42:02 GMT -5
Hi guys! I have a 3 month old kit and he just began a raw diet. Everything is prepared and he's eating well which is great. However, I have concerns regarding keeping his enclosure clean and keeping my general living area clean as well.
His enclosure has fleece liners, which I wash 1x/week. When he began raw last night, he promptly dumped the entire ceramic dish and dragged pieces of meat around the entire enclosure. He ate some, left some, ate some, left some, and so on in various areas all around the cage.
I have a fair amount of anxiety about bacterial contamination (I love OCD), and I'm sitting here wondering if everything is now essentially contaminated/will be until wash day and whether *he* himself is contaminated.
I love playing with him and he loves climbing on me and I would prefer to not be worried about whether or not I'm going to get sick from his messy eating habits transferring bacteria onto my clothes, blankets, furniture, etc., lol!
Does anyone have any advice or information on how to keep him and his enclosure sanitary without me washing every day (not practical)? Am I overly worried about the bacteria? I feel like fabric would be a breeding ground for it and I'm not even sure how long it would remain infectious.
I don't think I could have a special feeding area since I work in the mornings and can't stick around until he's finished. What do you guys do?
Thank you in advance for your help!!!
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Post by Charlie on Jan 2, 2021 20:12:28 GMT -5
Lots of people use feeding dens. At that young age though, they aren't very good at keeping it in one spot yet. My ferret will eat his food on one shelf that I don't cover with any fleece. He actually stays there to eat his food most of the time so I can wash it down all the time. I also keep a tube on that shelf for him to "hide" his food. Most people use boxes. My ferret use to hide his food under stuff but now he uses his tube to stash his food. When he was younger I would always have to move his food into a feeding den for him. I used a box at first but the boxes got gross so I used a large plastic tube. Others use plastic tote bins and cut a hole in the side for their ferrets. Those work well too and can be washed easily as well.
When my ferret eats I will lock him in his cage to eat otherwise he will take his food and hide it in the house somewhere, which I don't like. lol I give him about 15 to 30 minutes to eat then let him back out but then I close the cage door so he can't get back in otherwise he will hide his food in the house. My ferret will go to the fridge door when he's hungry. lol
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Post by PorkbunPrincess on Jan 2, 2021 20:50:55 GMT -5
Lots of people use feeding dens. At that young age though, they aren't very good at keeping it in one spot yet. My ferret will eat his food on one shelf that I don't cover with any fleece. He actually stays there to eat his food most of the time so I can wash it down all the time. I also keep a tube on that shelf for him to "hide" his food. Most people use boxes. My ferret use to hide his food under stuff but now he uses his tube to stash his food. When he was younger I would always have to move his food into a feeding den for him. I used a box at first but the boxes got gross so I used a large plastic tube. Others use plastic tote bins and cut a hole in the side for their ferrets. Those work well too and can be washed easily as well. When my ferret eats I will lock him in his cage to eat otherwise he will take his food and hide it in the house somewhere, which I don't like. lol I give him about 15 to 30 minutes to eat then let him back out but then I close the cage door so he can't get back in otherwise he will hide his food in the house. My ferret will go to the fridge door when he's hungry. lol That's smart! It'll be much more practical to feed in his cage, but now I'm wondering how I can get a separate shelf just for him to eat on. He has a single critter nation, and the main shelf wouldn't be a good idea for feeding. Do you have any suggestions? (: |
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jan 3, 2021 8:32:24 GMT -5
I feed mine on floor in ferret room on baby blankets. My wardie always brings her food up into the Ferret Nation, which also has baby blankets on the shelves. I just shake the old meat off and throw blankets in washer every couple days or so. i feed my ferrets in my food pantry closet too. I put a baby blanket on floor in there. They tend to like it there. I think because it is dark. I close the door and they slide under it ----like in the movie Along comes Polly.
No problems.
I did have a food bin for them to go into---just an upside down plastic bin which i cut an entry way in. I laid it on baby blankets because i did not want to take bin to the tub and wash it out all the time. Easier to take up baby blanket and wash that. I quit doing that because my waardie used the bin for a pottie on occasion. I have not tried it since she has gotten older.
I have not experienced any health problems with feeding raw. My mentor was in health. She may have been a nurse---I can't remember but she handled raw meat with plastic gloves.
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Post by PorkbunPrincess on Jan 3, 2021 9:41:27 GMT -5
I feed mine on floor in ferret room on baby blankets. My wardie always brings her food up into the Ferret Nation, which also has baby blankets on the shelves. I just shake the old meat off and throw blankets in washer every couple days or so. i feed my ferrets in my food pantry closet too. I put a baby blanket on floor in there. They tend to like it there. I think because it is dark. I close the door and they slide under it ----like in the movie Along comes Polly. No problems. I did have a food bin for them to go into---just an upside down plastic bin which i cut an entry way in. I laid it on baby blankets because i did not want to take bin to the tub and wash it out all the time. Easier to take up baby blanket and wash that. I quit doing that because my waardie used the bin for a pottie on occasion. I have not tried it since she has gotten older. I have not experienced any health problems with feeding raw. My mentor was in health. She may have been a nurse---I can't remember but she handled raw meat with plastic gloves. I'm really liking the upside down bin idea! I think I may give that a shot! |
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Post by Corvidophile on Jan 3, 2021 10:37:06 GMT -5
Wetness is your enemy and the breeding ground for bacteria- dry smears not so much. Once the meat has plopped on the bedding and then been dragged around by the ferret, it can grow bacteria where the meat once was, but as it dries out the growth stops. So if the ferret spills grounds or soup, you have to clean it up immediately because it’s gonna remain wet, but if they just drag a chicken wing across a blanket it’ll dry out pretty quickly and can wait a week ‘til wash day. Solid surfaces can be wiped down easily to put your mind at rest though.
The mouth is full of eubacteria that will battle with bad bacteria, so a few minutes after eating the ferret’s saliva will have washed away most of the threat to you from them licking you after eating raw. Still wouldn’t let them lick a wound or anything, but healthy skin or the fabric of a toy they like to bite is fairly safe.
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Post by Charlie on Jan 3, 2021 17:36:08 GMT -5
Lots of people use feeding dens. At that young age though, they aren't very good at keeping it in one spot yet. My ferret will eat his food on one shelf that I don't cover with any fleece. He actually stays there to eat his food most of the time so I can wash it down all the time. I also keep a tube on that shelf for him to "hide" his food. Most people use boxes. My ferret use to hide his food under stuff but now he uses his tube to stash his food. When he was younger I would always have to move his food into a feeding den for him. I used a box at first but the boxes got gross so I used a large plastic tube. Others use plastic tote bins and cut a hole in the side for their ferrets. Those work well too and can be washed easily as well. When my ferret eats I will lock him in his cage to eat otherwise he will take his food and hide it in the house somewhere, which I don't like. lol I give him about 15 to 30 minutes to eat then let him back out but then I close the cage door so he can't get back in otherwise he will hide his food in the house. My ferret will go to the fridge door when he's hungry. lol That's smart! It'll be much more practical to feed in his cage, but now I'm wondering how I can get a separate shelf just for him to eat on. He has a single critter nation, and the main shelf wouldn't be a good idea for feeding. Do you have any suggestions? (: Yes! I have a double ferret nation but you don't have to have a double cage to do this. I know someone who has a single cage too and she still has it set up the same. A single cage works too! I use the half shelf as the feeding area so it has no covering on that shelf. (Easy for cleaning!) The feeding box is also on that shelf along with the water bowl and his food dish. I have a hanging hammock next to that shelf so he can still climb into his hammock. His litter box is under the half shelf so he still has space on the bottom level. Ferrets have a tendency to take food from their bowls and "hide" the food for later. My ferret will take the food and move it to his box (in my case a tube) and will eat it later. He still does it even though the food dish is still on the same shelf. lol https://www.instagram.com/p/Brt2FwWB0cr In this picture I just got the cage and put it together so it just had the essentials. lol I was also taking care of my sister's ferret at the time so I split the cage into 2 separate cages. The ladder on the bottom was lifted up and blocked the hole to get to the bottom level and I also put the litter box over the hole at the time so my sister's ferret wouldn't walk on the hole. The litter box is always under the shelf now. I just had that set up temporarily while I had my sister's ferret. But in the picture you can see that the top shelf isn't covered and it has a box on there. Mind you the bottom shelf didn't have any blankets or towels yet either. lol I had to make them first! My sister's ferret was just little at the time too so she wasn't very neat. She was hit or miss for the litter box and she wasn't good at putting her food in the box yet but I would put it there so she got the idea. My ferret is older then my sister's ferret so he is better at being neater. lol I have since made covers for the cage and have made lots of hammocks for him too. He has the whole cage now, but for the short time I had my sister's ferret, it worked out great. They got along fine to play but he didn't want to sleep with her so it was best to keep them separated. |
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