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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 2:33:51 GMT -5
Ok, so I have this beautiful sweet healthy little 8 month old hob Finn. He is my first breeder hob. I am still learning and realizing that his needs are a little more intense than my sweet Marshall babies. When I got him, he was about 3.5 months old, and an awesome climber! The night I got him, he was in his Super Pet cage climbing all over the walls like a little monkey, so strong! However, he was also only about 2.5 lbs. Now, he is TWICE as heavy, and at 8 months, he seems to have forgotten about climbing! I realized that even with the FN 143 cage without ramps, in my single-story home, he gets to run around the house but probably doesn't get enough muscular exercise, particularly climbing. We are totally gonna work on that now! I don't have stairs, and I hope to move into a house that has some so he can run up and down them, but for now, I have set up a climbing exercise for him! Poor guy though... It took him a few minutes to even try to climb it! It's like he didn't think he could do it. I feel bad for letting him get this rusty! But he remembered... it was hard for him but he can do it! I'm so proud of him! Here he is climbing the rig: Now, my question... does this setup look like an OK way for him to get some climbing exercise? How many times a day could I have him do this without over-exercising him? Any suggestions on climbing setups? I thought about getting some carpet or something that his claws could grip into better. Any suggestions or thoughts would be welcome! I know people who show their ferrets work them to build muscle tone. I know I haven't done this enough with Finn and that's gotta change! My other 2 ferts won't be left out either... Fenton made me so proud, he can climb out of this setup when it's 1 grid high! (2 grids like Finn did is too much for him though right now). Fiona on the other hand, will need a different setup... She just crawls right through between the bars she's so tiny!
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Post by lumene on Dec 1, 2011 7:39:22 GMT -5
*unfortunately I do not know if I can offer much of an opinion, usually when I want muscle on my animals I swim them, but thats cause most of my kids are snakes...* I think that looks good though (I'm cheating and using the stairways in my apartment building...)
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Post by Sherry on Dec 1, 2011 10:59:15 GMT -5
Keep it to 5 minute sessions 3-4 times a day, and I don't see it being a problem. More than that, he'd likely get too bored with it anyway! I've also gotten mine going crazy for one of those cat teaser toys, and get them jumping up and down from the furniture.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 12:52:28 GMT -5
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Post by Heather on Dec 1, 2011 13:49:55 GMT -5
Just a thought guys, a concern, and only that....my guys climb, the cat towers, their cages but ferrets are not designed to climb and take a fall. I don't want them climbing...not those items and discourage it as much as possible. The chance of spinal injuries are huge when you encourage your wee ones to climb. If you want to get them to climb..safely....use tubes. Even using the large rolls of black drainage tubing can give them a safe and challenging climb. I've set my tubing up so that there are places where they really have to work because of the angle they have to climb. There are several places in the set up where they have to climb vertically for the full height of a cage and higher, the other major climb goes from the floor in one corner to the ceiling of the opposing corner. At no time is there a chance that they can get hurt or fall...if their legs give out...they just slide to the bottom of the tube, they can't fall off their climbing apparatus. When doing the vertical climbs they have to not only push with their legs to go up but work to push themselves against the tube so they can keep themselves going up. I'm in the process of trying to design a ferret climbing tree using this tubing. It will be situated in the center of the room with two runs of the tubing running up in a circular fashion until the top when the tubes will branch out into the corners of the room. As you've seen my guys have no problem climbing and they get into as much as the next fuzz and climb just as high but I also want them to be safe when they're doing it. So, I discourage climbing similar to cage climbing or cat towers. It's just me, I'm a bit over-protective of my wee charges ciao
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 15:32:24 GMT -5
Heather, so is the problem with climbing just the danger of falling? Why is the risk of spinal injury high? Just from falling, or something specific to vertical climbing? Finn seems reluctant to climb like this, maybe that's an instinct that's there for a reason and I shouldn't try to train it out of him... Do you have any examples of climbing setups using the pipes? Maybe I should do that instead... I can always use the storage grids for storage instead
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Post by Heather on Dec 1, 2011 15:53:26 GMT -5
Finn's sheer size and weight may be what's detering him and I'm not saying he's overweight...just that his risk of falling and damaging himself is that much higher. A wee jill or sprite is much more agile than a full sized hob. A two pound kit, would be much more agile than a 5 lbs hob. Fun-Go has put on a lot of weight both due to the winter and he's got himself a sizable pred-belly. It has thrown off is center of balance and he's no longer climbing. He falls if he does, so he just doesn't. Minion was 4 lbs, he didn't climb, he's now 3lbs 10oz...that's an insignificant drop but it's enough to get him climbing again. The risk to the spine is the same as ours, think about what you do if you fall from a height. You spin to stop yourself, so does a ferret but the back end doesn't spin, not like a cat, it remains so the ferret lands twisted. A spine that long, will only get damaged. I"ve seen ferrets paralized from a fall from a bed, imagine what could happen if they fall from the top of the cage? I will see if I can find some pics or get some pics of my guys present set up (the particulars). The pics that I have are posted in the rooms and cages section, might show you what I"ve done for my guys. I don't know if you can see the tubing set up in the manner that would show you how it works though. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 16:04:10 GMT -5
Haha Finns sister Sarah would have made quick work of that little set up in one try mikeybox. She has climbed one of our couches several times and boots it right up there with so much strength. Its lead me to order this, which hasn't come yet: www.ferret.com/item/ware-three-story-ferret-condo/651163/Not even 2 feet high so no danger of getting hurt. Sarah will likely love climbing right up it, Mika maybe not so much. Climbing exercise is a good idea. I need to get a fun set up going for them today too. I guess using a spare chair would work for draping and taping tubes. I had 1 tube before that Mika can get in no problem but my big girl Sarah just can't do it so I need to buy a slightly bigger bunch of tubes.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 16:19:21 GMT -5
Haha Finns sister Sarah would have made quick work of that little set up in one try mikeybox. She has climbed one of our couches several times and boots it right up there with so much strength. Its lead me to order this, which hasn't come yet: www.ferret.com/item/ware-three-story-ferret-condo/651163/Not even 2 feet high so no danger of getting hurt. Sarah will likely love climbing right up it, Mika maybe not so much. Climbing exercise is a good idea. I need to get a fun set up going for them today too. I guess using a spare chair would work for draping and taping tubes. I had 1 tube before that Mika can get in no problem but my big girl Sarah just can't do it so I need to buy a slightly bigger bunch of tubes. Aww you should post more pics and/or videos of her!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 19:25:30 GMT -5
I agree with Heather, the little ones are usuually the climbers. You do need to be careful with falling - an amazing number of ferrets end up with spinal injuries from falling or being dropped.
A lot of the breeders I know take ramps out of their cages and place the hammocks up high so the ferret needs to pull himself into the hammock. This focuses on the shoulders.
I have always focused on the lower back and hind end - these are the areas that give the most trouble over over time. and My kids are considered to be remarkably well-muscled for their age....they're "pushing 7 yrs. old" now. 1. Sitting up - train them to sit up for a treat. Have them hold this pose for several seconds. 2. Core traiing: Once your ferret is good at sitting up, move the treat around (side -to-side, forward/backwards, etc.) to encourage your ferret to turn/twist/lean to the side, back to center, and then to the other side, etc. This will develop strength and muscle mass in the lower back, which is where many ferret lose a lot of tone as they age. 3. Hind leg strength: once your ferret is siting up almost reaching the treat, slowly pull the treat up igher so the ferret tries to stand on his/her hing legs. Some will jump, but a slow rising up into a standing psoition will build more muscle strength.
Of course, steep tubes (the black corregated kind that you get at home omprovement stores. can aloww for safer climbing as well (as long as the ferret is deposited into a safe location.
Running stairs is another good one with and without a tube/tunnel. You'll always want to supervise stairs. For those who may be unaware, ferrets have TERRIBLE depth perception (terrible eyesight to begin with). The cannot necessarily recognize a big drop.
-jennifer
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 19:35:09 GMT -5
Wow terrible depth perception eh? I always wondered why so many ferrets plummet off of high places without seeming to realize it's a dangerous jump!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 19:50:45 GMT -5
Yes - ferrets will leap, slide, fall off of aanything - scary business. I stole Heather's post from the "standing on hind legs" thread because she holds a different perspective on training ferrets to stand up on hind legs. My kids are not caged, and they have been trained for core strength for the beginning - my kids have had no problems, but Heather's take on this is clearly a valid concern for some ferrets Here are Heather's thoughts... Ferrets are not designed to stand on their back legs. It's similar to dachshounds, they're not supposed to stand on their back legs either. I'm not saying they don't and that for a trick you shouldn't encourage it...occasionally...but it's not something they should do. All creatures with elongated spines should not be placed in an unatural position. They will stand up to peer at something but that's only for a minute, standing on their back legs puts unatural stresses on the spine. Spinal injuries are one of the most common injuries incurred by ferrets. So, if your wee ones cannot or will not stand on their back legs, it may mean that their core muscles are not strong enough to support them. Ferrets who are cage bound often lack core muscles and even the leg strength to do this standing. ciao Read more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=4705#ixzz1fKkw0xQV
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 19:59:08 GMT -5
Just so you can see why I thought Finn should be better at climbing, look at how good they climbed when they were little! This is at only 11 weeks! ;D This is Finn's litter, I wonder which one is him?
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Post by Sherry on Dec 1, 2011 20:25:39 GMT -5
Adorable
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Post by nancyl on Dec 1, 2011 21:13:40 GMT -5
Size is certainly a factor in climbing ability. Onyx just spent several minutes trying to climb up my pant leg from the floor to my knee. It took a number of attempts before he finally managed to haul his big butt up, but he did make it. Finally. His sister, on the other hand, could probably climb up the wall. The older hob Roddy, has much the same problem. He's not quite as big as Onyx but he has trouble due his size.
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