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Post by orv420 on Feb 2, 2012 11:48:10 GMT -5
Just wanted to post an update on my five monsters.
I started feeding raw soup the last week of December; For the past week, my five have had no access to kibble. Sprite and Jack will stash larger chunks to eat later, and Sprite will eat whole mice. The other three are being a bit more resistant. They seem to enjoy their soup at breakfast and will chew any larger chunks that happen to end up in their mouths. I put chunked raw in at night, but only Sprite and Jack will eat, the others wait for soup in the morning. I still have to "jump-start" Zaxx every day with a spoon, but one spoonful is usually all it takes to get him eating (I think it's an attention thing). My ultimate goal is to get all five eating chunks/whole prey for dinner, with a balanced soup for breakfast (including organs and eggshell powder)
I do have one question, however. None of the ferrets will bite me (they do play-nip, which is permitted) Peanut and Sprite still randomly bite anyone else and occasionally draw blood. I'm thinking it has to do with lotions/perfumes, since I just use unscented or lightly scented soaps (Army thing; perfumes attract bugs) I believe I read about perfumes affecting bite reactions, but wanted others' opinions and observations. Thanks!
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Post by Sherry on Feb 2, 2012 11:53:36 GMT -5
First, congratulations on getting them eating the soup and chunks. You may have to move the soup to once or twice a week however to get your reluctant ones eating their chunks and bones. If they know an easier meal is just around the corner, they WILL continue holding out for it As for the biting, it could well be the scents causing it, or it could be because they know they'll get away with it. Do the "time out" method every single time. Better yet- have the other person do it. Or do what I do. My ferrets with a biting history are never handled by anyone but myself or my husband.
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Post by orv420 on Feb 2, 2012 12:48:27 GMT -5
Heh, I've had to retrain my mother since PetCo told her to flick them on the nose for biting. She and my brother originally got Tink and Zaxx back in September. Tink, Zaxx and Jack do not bite hard. Peanut and Sprite occasionally bite hard, and they get scruffed - timeouts do nothing for a ferret that is used to being caged 23/7 (like Sprite and Peanut) they don't peer out the bars or anything, just curl up and sleep. I've only had them for a month so far, and they get 10 to 15 hours to free roam their room daily, only being caged at night or during vacuuming for safety. Peanut was extremely resistant to scruffing, which led me to other methods, but none worked on her. She now goes limp when scruffed since she doesn't associate scruffing with fear/pain/whatnot. I regularly scruff all the ferrets, for nail-trimming, and face rubs, so they are all comfortable with being held that way (on back, light scruff to hold) When correcting them, they are held vertically, with back feet supported until they "give" ie: Sprite licks her lips, Peanut sighs, Tink, Zaxx and Jack all yawn. The main concern with other people is due to the fact that I'll be going back to work soon and need someone to handle them, or at least to let them run. I may just get a bottle of bitter apple and have anyone else spray their hands if they are afraid of being bitten. Simplest solution is likely the correct one in this situation.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2012 12:59:06 GMT -5
Good progress on the raw in month! Not much advice i can give, others here are far more experienced.
How much time do you think they will be able to run around? Mine typically get about 2-3 in the morning 2-3 at night. Even if they are out 6 hrs atleast two of that is spent sleeping around the house anyway. 4 hrs would prolly be more than enough if they have been used to being caged so much as you described. So if you can on average provide that much time out of the cage then you should be ok.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2012 13:21:58 GMT -5
I've determined Loki has no tastebuds. I tried the bitter stuff myself (Hey, I wanted to taste what I was giving my baby) I spent hours trying to rid my mouth of the flavor and trying not to vomit. I can't smell it without wanting to gag again. Loki still chews on whatever we spray the stuff on. It doesn't bother him in the slightest. This is my ridiculous warning to not rely on it as a biting preventative.
~Kelli
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Post by Heather on Feb 2, 2012 13:34:30 GMT -5
Bitter apple does absolutely nothing for ferrets...us on the other hand ....gag for hours . Time outs are done not in their cage...you sleep in there. They're done in a tiny cat crate, no blankets...nothing. I've never yet had a ferret who was content to stay in there. No, it doesn't happen overnight but I've had too many of the brats come out of a scruff fighting mad. Napoleon the sweetest ferret I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, would bite after being scruffed ..... brat Fun-Go, Lady "B", Lady Natasha, Minion....all these ferrets come out of a scruff seeing red. All these ferrets are notorious biters. I've had many more too but those are the ones presently who believe in tasting with their teeth. Everyone handling your ferrets has to treat them exactly the same way. Nose flicking .... that's ancient history. Even long time breeders don't do or advocate that any more. That creates biters. ciao
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Post by Sherry on Feb 2, 2012 14:49:27 GMT -5
I second the tiny carrier. 3 minutes in an empy carrier while watching the others play is an eternity of boredom to a ferret. As for the nose flicking, so glad you stopped that from happening. That's what we were told to do as well. It turned a mouthy kit into a vicious biter. Took another 10 months before he started to trust us again
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Post by orv420 on Feb 3, 2012 11:34:08 GMT -5
The nose flicking stopped with Tink and Zaxx in October when I returned from Florida, I'm still dealing with occasional trust issues with Tink, but Zaxx will pass out in my arms. Peanut, Sprite and Jack... I have no idea how they were disciplined or if they were to begin with. Jack was a solitary ferret for about a year, then my cousin got the other two as kits. Jack is deaf, but good about biting humans. Peanut and Sprite are doing much better than when they first came here and only bite other people occasionally, they do play nip with me - and I'm thinking that others may not realize they are only lightly nipping and the act of them yanking their hand away is causing the cuts, much like when playing with a cat, as long as you don't pull away, you won't get hurt (much). I observed as my niece and mother handled them yesterday, my mom definitely pulls her hand away, and was the only one who complained about being bitten.
The timeout situation - I use a small cat carrier, but again, Peanut and Sprite will just curl up in a corner and sleep as if they don't expect to be allowed back out. Scruffing is working, but I haven't had to scruff for discipline in a couple (2) days, just for my usual rubdown lump checks and face rubs. Peanut used to bite harder after being scruffed, but persistence pays off and now she calms right down with no retaliatory biting.
Raw status - I gave them chicken wings last night with most of the meat filleted from the bone and the bones snapped in half. This morning, there are bone fragments all over the feeding level and some of the fillets were eaten. As an added bonus, they only ate about half their raw soup and all played for the usual hour before napping again. I've been using a lot of the tips on the forums, I just make the raw grind for breakfast a bit chunkier every week and offer raw chunks and bone-in overnight. If anyone refuses to eat soup, they get spoon-fed, if they refuse the spoon (hasn't happened yet) I'm ready with a syringe. As long as they play and poop like normal, it means they're eating, and I'm happy.
Time out of cage - I would like to keep them to a similar schedule that they are used to; Cage open at sunrise or close to it, then lights out at sunset and lockdown when I go to bed. Lighting is easy, already on timers as ambient light from their small window is insufficient. If I go back to the same work schedule as before... I'll leave by 5:30AM and not get home until 10PM some days. I can give them 3 hours of free time and still get 4 hours of sleep. I will have to get someone to release them during the day and re-cage them before leaving the house or going to bed, but the job's not guaranteed just yet, so not worth worrying about until I get a confirmation or start date.
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Post by Heather on Feb 3, 2012 13:42:12 GMT -5
Good luck with the job. Sounds like things are working very well for you. That's fantastic. ciao
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Post by slinkytiger on Feb 3, 2012 14:00:15 GMT -5
Wow - Great progress orva420! U onto it
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