|
Post by sherrylynne on Sept 23, 2008 19:51:47 GMT -5
My youngest, Lucrezia, has decided she will no longer use a feeding den.She stashes anywhere, and everywhere . I just use a box for each of them, and have switched them out previously when too dirty. If I put her and food in the den, she just picks it up and removes it elsewhere. Even if I just put the food in there, and let her find it. I'm finding meat under the sofa, chair, behind the computer desk, IN the bookshelf, in the litterbox, literally one piece everywhere. She even steals the others stashes and hides them . Any ideas how to curb this, short of feeding her in the cage? They all get their meat in the kitchen, eat some there, and take the rest(for the most part) to their boxes.
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 23, 2008 20:56:37 GMT -5
Bear in mind it is winter coming up so this stashing behavior could possibly just be a seasonal thing My ferts aren't stashers at all, but wil fall approaching (or is it already here?) they have begun to stash. An excellent idea to curb stashing is to use a showerhook to hook the RMBs to the side of the cage. Erinn does this and it a great idea! It will only keep the meat in place until they chew around the meat that holds it to the cage, but by that time most of the meat will be gone and it will just be bone I hope this helps you out, all credit goes to Erinn! Here is a picture of her baby, Pilot eating on the shower hook thingy. PM Erin for more info on where to buy the hooks
|
|
|
Post by hillcrestferrets on Sept 24, 2008 9:24:11 GMT -5
You can buy the shower hook things at Walmart.
I love the idea, but my ferrets would go crazy. They love to stash. Fortunately I have enough that a stash never goes unfound for very long. Someone else finds it and eats it.
You might try confining her briefly to a cage or a single room with her feeding den until she's done. However, stashing is a perfectly normal ferret behavior, so you can always just let it go and keep a close eye on her spots to remove anything before it gets too icky. She's getting lots of exercise running around and indulging in her normal behavior.
If this is new behavior - has there been any change to her environment to make her think the feeding den is no longer safe for eating? A new ferret or other critter or something else? That may explain why she's finding new spots.
Hope that helps. ann b.
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Sept 24, 2008 9:34:59 GMT -5
No, nothing new whatsoever. And she really does seem to enjoy herself while doing it . I'm thinking she's found a new game. It just gets interesting moving the sofa daily to remove everything she's stashed there. Normally, I wouldn't mind so much, but my BOOKSHELF? My BOOKS? Fresh raw meat and books don't go so well together, I've found ! I think I will try feeding her in the bathroom for now with her den. See if it helps.
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 24, 2008 20:10:40 GMT -5
Another thing to consider is that you may be feeding too much if there are always leftovers that nobody's eating. My brats start to stash food when they're full. That's when the wet food gets taken away and the freeze-dried food is set out for between meal snack. They can cache the freeze-dried to their heart's content since t doesn't go bad and they eat it all up . There are crumbs to vacuum up once a week.
My kids used to try to come out of the dens, so I sat with them and herded them back into the dens. Now they pretty much behave themselves, so I guess they're mostly trained toeat in the dens.
-jennifer
|
|
|
Post by animalsgetrevenge on Sept 25, 2008 17:36:31 GMT -5
I love the meat-hook idea! I had thought of using hemp to tie meat up so my ferrets could tug and pull at it for a little fun, but it turned into a horrible, disgusting mess.
I buy the hooks at home depot.
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Sept 27, 2008 9:14:42 GMT -5
The problem was that she would start to stash before eating. Then, when everyone else would have had enough, and had two or three pieces each to stash, she would steal their stash, and rehide it! After all of this, she would go around and eat her fill.
|
|