trippyferret
Gnawing on bones
The Weasels of Warcraft be goin' natural!
Posts: 78
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Post by trippyferret on Nov 7, 2008 2:01:58 GMT -5
At first it may seem gruesome and hard to stomach, but once you see them kill a mouse... it is just really amazing to see. I also own pet rats, so I can understand your concerns. I thought it would be hard for me. As a matter of fact, the first time I didn't even want to watch! It's just really not as bad as you might think. Just try not to get attached to the mice! I've done things with mice that I never expected I'd do, like cut open their bellies and stuff in Ferretone. I've watched them kill and eat a whole mouse. I guess you kinda get desensitized and see what your ferrets are doing is a natural, awesome thing. Honestly, I get so excited when my babies make a kill.
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Post by pear2apple on Nov 7, 2008 7:53:51 GMT -5
I have only once had to kill a mouse, and that was the first time I ever gave it. Only because we had nothing to do with the mouse and Apple didn't know either. The second time was an accident. It was too quick for Apple to even catch and I couldn't take it anymore and decided I would trap the mouse in a container and think of a better way for this to work. Ended up snapping its next with the container, and then Apple "killed" it.
But I almost never step in. There's no need. They don't take a long time and they are still learning. I look at it as a learning experience for them and they've never started eating it before it was dead.
I think you need to give them more time to kill it then a few seconds. Depending on how fast the mouse is, it usually takes a minute or so for the bigger ones, and like 30sec for the small ones. There is some pooping and squealing on the mouse's part, but it doesn't really bother me and they have fun.
Yesterday I fed them 4 fuzzies. They only ate 1.5. That was annoying, but they killed them all and stacked them in a corner. If I could stand the smell, I'd cut them up for a mix, but no. And now I have 2 hoppers living in my bathtub for today. This time they should be hungry when I feed them so hopefully they eat at least one mouse. But Kiwi loves it, she's pretty fast!
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Post by harrisi on Nov 9, 2008 15:11:15 GMT -5
I think you need to give them more time to kill it then a few seconds. Again, thats the falconer in me "Thou shall respect quarry, be it dead or alive". My mate feeds really gruesome things though...gerbils, jumbo rats, guinea pig etc and his ferrets kill it as soon as they get hold of it.
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