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Post by goingpostal on Feb 12, 2011 14:37:38 GMT -5
between the cats, dogs, ferrets, guineapigs, 3 kids, and a construction worker husband...carpets just don't work for us! Lol, how do you know you're a ferret owner? No carpet! That's pretty funny how many of us just got rid of it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2011 14:49:02 GMT -5
Joan, thanks for responding! I had no idea that discipline only takes place for such a short period of time.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 12, 2011 17:09:39 GMT -5
Neither did I! Although since we tend to keep our fuzz in a more or less kit stage for a much longer period of time, I'm guessing that makes a difference?
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Post by Heather on Feb 12, 2011 17:22:24 GMT -5
I have porcelain tile throughout. This year, we will proceed to redo the ferret room and my bedroom. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2011 10:50:27 GMT -5
I haven't really read the thread, but just have to comment on this about ferret dams scruffing their kits... I can honestly say that I have never ever seen any of my jills do this to their kits at any age or under any circumstances. They just don't have that kind of behaviour. They will simply ignore the kits. If a kit is bugging her she will hiss and turn away and that's it.
I've always been puzzled that people say their dams do this, and if it's true, I wonder why none of my dams do this? Not even when I've had litters with a single kit, which had no one else to play with but the mother, has the dam behaved like that.
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Post by tinytippytoes on Feb 13, 2011 11:06:50 GMT -5
I haven't really read the thread, but just have to comment on this about ferret dams scruffing their kits... I can honestly say that I have never ever seen any of my jills do this to their kits at any age or under any circumstances. They just don't have that kind of behaviour. They will simply ignore the kits. If a kit is bugging her she will hiss and turn away and that's it. I've always been puzzled that people say their dams do this, and if it's true, I wonder why none of my dams do this? Not even when I've had litters with a single kit, which had no one else to play with but the mother, has the dam behaved like that. And what better discipline than being ignored and told off? No ferret wants be ignored. i can see how that would work. OMG new smilieys LOL cool!!
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Post by Sherry on Feb 13, 2011 11:10:18 GMT -5
I wonder why we've always been told to scruff/hiss/drag? I can understand that not working with adults anymore, but I was always under the impression this was a good method for kits. Thanks for sharing that, Marie!
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Post by Heather on Feb 13, 2011 18:14:40 GMT -5
I wonder if it's the same as the whole nose flick thing. When I first got into ferrets that's what I was told to do. It made me cringe and I never did it...but it was at one point common practice or at least I was led to believe it was common practice. I just found the whole ignore thing much more effective in the long run. It takes a bit more to sink in but it's hugely effective and my guys don't think they've been bad if I have to scruff them if they get wiggly when I'm trying to do their claws or if I'm trying to give them meds. Too many abused ferrets have come through my house, I just won't scruff them, its counter productive but that's my opinion. ciao
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Post by joan on Feb 13, 2011 19:22:36 GMT -5
Very interesting, Marie! I did notice that Charm scruffed her kits much less than her dam and any of my other ferret jills, as she usually just hissed at them when they were bugging her. Her two most obnoxious sons, one in each litter, were the ones I noticed her scruffing a few times after they were 8 weeks old. It was really funny, once the boys were bigger than she was, to watch her hiss at them and then scruff them when they ignored her hissing and kept right on with whatever she didn't want them doing,
I tried the scruff for discipline early on, ditto the scruff and drag, when raising my first litter of kits...once or twice of each convinced me that it was not only useless, but counterproductive. I've never corrected them for mouthing in play, only when they start applying pressure to it. If they start actual nipping or use any pressure when mouthing me in play at, I just pick them up and tell them "No bite!" and put them back down. Once they learn that, a loud "Ah ah" serves to remind them and they back off.
I've had a few kits that considered "No bite" a game at 3-4 months or so, and they would try to nip my arm or leg before I could say, "No bite." More than twice of that, and I left, ignoring them for several minutes. It occasionally took awhile, but they finally got the message and stopped.
That said, I do scruff to do nails in the kits until they learn to hold still while I'm clipping. I've never had any indication that they consider that to be discipline, although they may complain about having to hold still the first time or two. I also scruff if I need to clean ears, but that's rarely necessary in raw fed ferrets.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2011 20:08:30 GMT -5
Just curious, does momma teach the kits were to potty? What does she do of they potty in the wrong place?
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Post by joan on Feb 14, 2011 0:23:45 GMT -5
My jills start dragging the kits into the litter box from about 4 weeks on if they don't climb in on their own, and they're usually 100% reliable about using it a few days after their eyes open. I put newspaper down in the whelping cage at about 3 weeks when they start exploring and the jill tends to drag any used paper into the litter pan, as well. During the period that they're learning to use the litter box, I generally clean the whelping cage every 2-3 hours...the cleaner they're kept at this age, the better they'll be at using the litter pan for the rest of their lives.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2011 0:34:40 GMT -5
Wow, what good mommas! Thanks for all the info
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Post by Sherry on Feb 14, 2011 0:45:17 GMT -5
When you consider how much trouble we have with litter training our little mill ferrets- that makes a TON of sense. It's highly doubtful anyone there goes beyond the basics of cage cleaning, even with the little ones.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2011 4:19:23 GMT -5
And perhaps not so surprising ... none of my jills have ever "litter trained" their kits. They are born with the instinct to not go potty in the nest and to do it where they smell that the others (mom and siblings) do it. When they start to eat solid food (which is the time they start to go potty) they will go as far out inside the nest they can come, which will typically be in a corner in the nest boxes that I use. When they get a bit older and can climb outside the box they will go to the dams litter corner which I arrange not far outside the nest. These things are all instincts so no need to be taught. Polecats behave like this in the wild. I've never witnessed a dam drag kits to a litter corner (even if they end up doing it in the wrong place) or to clean out any mess inside the nest box. What she will do is go get them if they get lost on their way back from the litter corner. In the wild the jill will usually move her kits to a new location at least once. So she moves the kits rather than the trash
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Post by joan on Feb 15, 2011 17:35:14 GMT -5
It would appear that dragging the kits into the litter box and putting the used paper in there, as well, is a learned behavior then, rather than instinct...I'd rather wondered about that the first time I saw it. I never thought to question if it was typical ferret behavior, as my Basenji bitches did the same thing with their pups. Ditto the scruffing discipline with their kits until they were weaned, other than my Basenji dams would discipline their pups by scruffing them for unwanted behavior until they were 4-5 months old.
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