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Post by bindiferret89 on Jun 10, 2009 20:04:35 GMT -5
If you read my latest post on my "at least their SOMEWHAT interested" thread, you know that last night, two of my ferrets killed (but did not eat) their first live prey--a pinkie mouse and a rat pup! It was really amazing and I can tell you that I am one proud momma!
However, I tried giving them a very small adult mouse in the bath tub, but the girls seemed to associate the place with bath time (baths=BAD in my girls' heads) and wouldn't go after it, but instead tried to climb out of the tub and almost trampled the poor mouse in the process, so it ended up snake food.
What's a good way to contain a mouse so it doesn't escape and still let my girls have fun catching it. Any ideas other than the bathtub?
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Post by Heather on Jun 10, 2009 23:01:50 GMT -5
What about those large plastic tubs...the ones with the hinged lids. I use the bath tub because it's easy to clean up but you don't have to use it, any container with reasonably high sides to prevent the mouse from getting away should work. Thor, associates the tub with the horrible bath thing . We've been doing kills in the tub for quite awhile now and today was the first time he actually decided that maybe he could partake in the fun too. He's an awesome little hunter but he hates the tub. I just kept putting him in and if he started to panic, I just pulled him out. The next time we made a kill then I would pop him in again and see if he could tolerate it ... I never pressured him. As he was only 1 of 16 ferrets at the time (him being the only one that couldn't hunt in the tub), I just never bother to worry about him hunting in the tub. He was fine if the cat released a wild mouse upstairs and thought nothing of putting on a full hunt and completing the kill. Try one of the rubbermaid tubs and see if you're little ones are ok with that. ciao
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jun 10, 2009 23:20:18 GMT -5
You don't think they run a higher risk of getting hurt by the mouse because the space is smaller and more enclosed?
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Post by sherrylynne on Jun 10, 2009 23:27:48 GMT -5
To be honest? It probably just means they'll be able to find it faster
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Post by Heather on Jun 11, 2009 0:04:04 GMT -5
I agree with Sherrylynne . The prey you're feeding is in line with beginner ferrets. They should be ok, even within the smaller confines of the box. My guys hunt full adult mice, and have taken a few nasty bites on occasion but they just get smarter about dealing with those nasty little mouse teeth. The big thing is you don't want to put off your guys from hunting....you're still feeding very young prey, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem with them being hurt by their prey. ciao
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