ferret help-just a little update 6/4/11

[hopefloats]

Cant wait for out-time. I bought a whole bunch of goodies at the dollar store! lol hopefully i can get some pictures up tonight when i have them out for a bit.

 

[hopefloats]

I think I found rearranged my living room in a way that I can let them out with out worrying about them getting through. They just had an hour of out time and I am sure they are ready for a nice long sleep. I can bet they havent had that much out time ever.

Jink........1.00 birthday bag and 2.00 worth of shredded paper but boy did they go nuts.

Gwen in the bag

it is really difficult to get picture of them they move way to much, most of them are just a blur.

The love our piles of shoes in the corner, he likes to drag the toys i bought them today behind the couch.........

 

[Joanne]

They will climb inside your couch if they can get access, so beware! We actually had to take the legs off our hide-a-bed couch so that we had at least a couple of seconds to grab them before they climbed up and in behind the cushions and INTO the couch, where you can't get them, only listen to them dig the crap out of your couch from the inside!!!
One of my first rats, Jaws, was a biter. He bit everyone. I was persistant in loving him and he soon became MY ferret. If anyone else presented bare skin to him, he would bite to draw blood, 100% bite rate. If he was a dog, he would have been euthanized. Because he was a ferret, we just had to put him away when people came over.
I had another biter, but she was just occasional. She did bite my nose one day, and I heard her canine tooth pop through my nose cartilage. I could have put an earring in it and called it a piercing! I had to wait for her to let go before I could get her off my face!!! LOL
Oh well, lots of fun... I couldn't seem to change the biting habits they had. Mine either were or weren't biters.

 

[Ktina]

Aw I love ferrets! I used to have a bunch, and boy you are right they are a lot of work but most of it is a lot of fun. :wink2: Feel free to PM me too if you need anymore help, seems like you've gotten quite a bit of good advice though!

 

[hopefloats]

we had them out again last night. I have two litter boxes out, the boy went over while playing and used it, i was beyond excited lol

we have two couches in there, one has it legs still but the other one doesn't. So they can only get behind and under the one couch. That is only because i cannot figure out how to stop them lol I am thinking about buying a couple foam noodles for the pool and using it to block off the couch. I have to move the recliner chair out when we let them out since I was warned that can be a death trap for them. That is the only thing minus the book shelf they can crawl under.

It took me 4 rearranging attempts to get to where i did not have to jump up every 3 seconds because they found another opening.

Joanne it scares me to be bitten by one of these guys I have biter rats which i am ok with but I want no part of her teeth sinking into me lol. She did it that one time, and hasnt done it again, I have been giving her some cat treats as a bit of bribe when I go to her, hoping she will see i have food for her. Outside of my 13 year old, no one else in the house will randomly go up to our animals they are worried they will bit them.

How much should they be eating? I am having a hard time judging if they are eating enough. I have a bag of zupree ferret food coming today, I have a square basket in there but it never gets empty, about half empty before I fill it each day. I tried chicken but they wanted no part of it, is there a can food i can get them to help them get weight back on?

We are having a blast with them, and it is really been interesting. I still cannot adjust to the ferret smell though so i keep changing their bedding every day to keep it from being overwhelming LOL

 

[hopefloats]

Gwen has such a hard life! Her little tongue was sticking out...it was the cutest thing ever!

i have not cleaned up any poo in their cage in days! they are using the litter boxes 100% in there. Out side of the cage, i have won the battle of blocking off the living room and I can relax when they are out rather than jumping up every two seconds because they found a hole to weasel through :joy: They still go next to the litter box outside though, on occasion they get in it..but that is ok i think they will get it sooner or later.

I wasnt much of a ferret person, their smell still gets me, but we are having a blast with these two, they get a few hours of out time and I keep trying to see how long they take to get tired, yesterday they were out for 2 1/2 hours and still didnt go to sleep........

 

[Joanne]

They are so adorable to watch. I used to try and get my guys out at least twice a day - once in the am when I was getting ready to go, and then in the evening. My ferrets trained me to be a litter box cleaner. I got into the habit of cleaning it out twice a day, as they are little poop machines.
I fed my guys Marshall's. They really liked it but I think that's because they were raised on it. It used to go to mush really easily when you add water to it. I used to warm it up to make warm mush for them. When you are used to rats, ferrets can be REALLY picky eaters!

 

[hopefloats]

They are so adorable to watch. I used to try and get my guys out at least twice a day - once in the am when I was getting ready to go, and then in the evening. My ferrets trained me to be a litter box cleaner. I got into the habit of cleaning it out twice a day, as they are little poop machines.
I fed my guys Marshall's. They really liked it but I think that's because they were raised on it. It used to go to mush really easily when you add water to it. I used to warm it up to make warm mush for them. When you are used to rats, ferrets can be REALLY picky eaters!

That is an understatement about picky eaters. I am so used to food being attacked by rats, the ferrets wont eat half the stuff I try to give them. I tried chicken, beef jerky, the only thing one will take from me is the chicken dog treats, the other one wont take anything.

I ordered zupreem? food for them, they both seem to eat it so that is good. i am still trying to balance out time. and i switched all my cages around last night and will be making another 3 level Feisty ferret cage for my mixed sex group. The super pet cage was not working out for the ferrets so they are in my fn. All you could hear was their nails grabbing franticaly on the shelves as they fall, I really cannot afford a broken limb on a ferret right now so I moved my critters around.

 

[hopefloats]

I must say that this has been an interesting journey with Gwen the biter. We are finally making progress. I can pick her up now, hold her for small amounts of time, and I can see her bite coming on, and stop it from happening. It was constant turning on me to bite me every time I stopped her from getting into some thing. i would have to pick her up and hope I was fast enough to get my hand up to her head to hold it so I didnt get bit. I am now able to just say her name, and pick her up with little problems.


She has gained a lot of weight. She has a nice shiny coat now, she isnt as picky as Jink, he is gaining but slower, i have tried numerous treats and he still wont take any of them. He eats the food but not as well as Gwen does.

They are cleaner than my rats are in the cage. I am shocked. we have had one accident since they moved into my Double FN. and they do not destroy the liners i have down on the cage!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B-2mbu1cZs

 

[Joanne]

That's great about Gwen! She may be like my boy Jaws who came to love me. I found my hands were pretty safe if they were under their arms and bum. They can't seem to get a good chomp then. I'll bet after a while she'll be a snuggler!

Another thing you have to be careful of is when they do chew a hole in a blanket. I saw my ferret get his head stuck in a hole in the blanket, and when he did, he started spinning around (like an alligator) and would have quickly strangled himself to death if I hadn't been there to stop him and extricate him. When they made a hole, I started to enlarge the holes so that they wouldn't get caught in them.

 

[hopefloats]

I know, i found one of my rats that way since then I either toss it or make it bigger so I figured they were the same way.


I wonder how your boy got the name jaws LOL I love that name if it is for biting.

 

[hopefloats]

I made the decision which I found difficult to do. But I put the Ferrets in a foster home with a local small animal rescue. They have an actual ferret foster who takes in the ferrets she has 12. 5 of them are hers, and 7 fosters which she keeps if they become sick or if they have life long ailments. That was something I could not commit myself too.

My intention was to get them out of my sisters hell hole, fatten them up, make them happy, and rehome them. I got scared of who would answer my ads so I talked to them about their screening process, which is great, they take the animals back if the new adopters no longer can keep them, it is required. They also require pictures of the cages and since Gwen was a bit mouthy she said they would not let them go to new ferret owners only people who can deal with that own ferrets. So they will search out a special home. The woman who was fostering them, was amazing, Gwen seemed at peace with her, and she will have ferret buddies too! She tried to bite her once, but not even major. I have put a lot of work into her, so i am glad to see it did help. You can hold her, and a stranger could as well.

I sent all their favorite toys, a few hammocks that Gwen loved and a large bag of zupreem food for them. It was a really tough decision to make, but an important one to teach my daughter. I want her to know that you can help them, and you dont have to keep them all that you help.... I want her to understand not to be selfish with animals, that because you like them, it doesn't mean it is the best home setting for them.

I am happy they are healthy and on the way to a life with a ferret person, not a rat person saving them. I miss them like mad but I feel relieved that I am back to just my ratties to take care of.

 

[Petunia]

I'm so glad you were able to get them in to a foster home, I know you only wanted what's best for them.

hard to see them go, though....
:hugs:

will the foster home keep you up to date on how they are doing?

 

[hopefloats]

Yes they will. I can email them and ask at any time. I always watch them on FB so I will know when the get adopted............

 

[Moon]

It's easy to get overwhelmed, especially if we end up caring for a species we have no particular affections for. I'm sure you loved them thoroughly, but if they're not an animal you are passionate about it makes things harder. Sounds like you've found a wonderful place for them to go in the meantime.