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Post by curiouscasper on Nov 17, 2009 15:12:08 GMT -5
Well I was researching disciplines for ferrets and I was obviously looking for a non physical method. I found that some ferrets will be discouraged to do unwanted tasks with a spray from the water bottle. So I attempted it. Casper and Maddie both want to get under my dishwasher, which is very dangerous. So they started to stick there head under and sprayed with the water bottle. Would you like to know their response? They looked at me and heads went back under the dishwasher. I thought to myself, hey maybe it was to much of a mist. Got closer and sprayed.. They loved it.. in fact they love water in general.. took them both into the shower with me and they were freaking out a little bit but once they got out there were so excited and were flipping out playing with me jumping on me and making little chirping sounds that they make when they are enjoying a meal. So my question, well questions. Can ferrets be trained not to go certain places (ex: under dishwasher, behind stove, etc. )? And if so what type of disciplines should I do if they do an unwanted task. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For potty training what do you guys do.. Casper seems to be pretty well potty trained (Which is kind of funny because the people we got him from said Maddie was fine and Casper had troubles, Maddie has been pooping all over the house where Casper hasnt had on accident) What I have been doing is.. Sitting by the cage when waking them up and giving them a couple minutes to wake up. After they wake up sometimes they go straight to the litter box go pee and poo and they are let out. When they do not do this I wait a little longer then they start biting and clawing at the bars of the cage. So I open the cage put them in the litter box and SOMETIMES this works, rarely but sometimes. If that doesnt work after about 5-10 minutes of attempting I just let them out. Well I had Maddie in the litter box and she just wanted to go, so I let her out and of course she went into the kitchen and peed and pooped right away.. Is there a reason she doesnt want to go into the litter box, maybe too much poo in the corner she likes? Do you guys clean out your litter box every day, week? What do you guys use for litter? Thanks for everything, you guys rock. -Paul p.s - Sorry for the many posts :-p
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Post by ferretdroogies on Nov 17, 2009 15:36:29 GMT -5
Cats hate when you spray water at them, but ferrets love it You can't really train a ferret not to be curious. Instead, you just need to block these places off. One of the most dangerous places for a ferret to be IMO is the kitchen. I bought two baby gates (if you buy one, buy the solid kind because ferrets can climb the ones with bars ). I always block off the kitchen. Generally child proof stuff works well to keep ferrets out of places you don't want them (I'm pretty sure Heather uses child proof stuff?). As far as potty training, we do the same thing. We don't let our guys out until they have gone. We let them wake up, go poop/pee, and then as a "reward" we let them out. One of ours, Pandora, is sometimes stubborn. She'll sit right in the corner in front of the litter box and faux poo so that I open the cage to stop her (she learned that when she does this, I open the cage ). If I don't open it, she actually poops/pees I'm not necessarily the person to talk to about potty training though, since I let them poop on hard surfaces, as long as they don't poop on the carpet (we live in an apartment). They learned it was ok to go in the bathroom, and this worked really well until we moved. Now we have to let them into a small section of the kitchen to have somewhere to poop. We usually just watch them closely when they're out to stop them from pooping in bad places. If we see them about to (they start backing up into a corner), we'll quickly grab them and put them in the spot we want them to go in the kitchen. Sari and Reks know what that means, but Pan runs off back to where she wanted to poop. She'll do this for 10-20 mins with me chasing her and putting her where she needs to go and her running back off to a bad poop spot. Eventually she has to go and can't hold it any longer, so usually I win her game Hope this helps some, but I know other people on the forum are more experienced with potty training than I am Edit: Oh! Forgot about litter. Pelleted newspaper type litter (like Yesterdays News) works well, but I switched to Swheat Scoop which is the only safe scoopable litter for ferrets. It's worked really well for them, and they seem to like it more than the pelleted litter. The reasons you don't usually want to use scoopable litter is because 1.) ferrets drag their butts so litter will get stuck to it and block their "exit" , 2.) if they ingest it, it will surely become a blockage and it's definitely toxic, 3.) ferrets have sensitive respiratory tracts, and these litters have very strong scents that will irritate them, 4.) the litter can get stuck in their eyes and ears when they stuff their faces in it (they can't resist when the litter is fresh ). Swheat scoop is non-toxic (it's made from wheat, hence the name), it doesn't clump until it dries (and even then, it doesn't clump as well as clay litter which is a good thing), and it has a natural sweet smell to it (smells like wheat!). Some people love it and some hate it, but I personally have had good luck with it, and the ferrets love digging in the fresh litter I scoop their litter box everyday (just once is all it needs), and change it out once a week (I wash the litter box too). If you use swheat scoop or even the pelleted litter, I have found liners to be very useful if you have a litter box that holds the liner down. If not, don't use them because your ferrets will probably just try to get underneath If you are using a corner litter box, I have found most ferrets don't like these because they are too small for them to get all the way in (they like all their feet in the litter box). My ferrets went from being 0% hit rating to nearly 100% when we got rid of the corner ones and put in cat sized litter boxes. Hope this helps!
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Post by curiouscasper on Nov 17, 2009 20:27:42 GMT -5
Thanks a ton that is very helpful, I actually just switched the full size litter box to a smaller one because the cage is not that big and basically just for sleeping and midnight poos, I mostly have them out and Apparently gonna need to get a baby gate.
Thanks again for everything,
Paul
p.s - I heard grabbing a ferret by the scruff is like a discipline, is this true, its what their mothers would do.
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Post by ferretdroogies on Nov 17, 2009 21:30:30 GMT -5
Yes, scruffing is a form of discipline (not sure why I forgot about that ). Make sure when you scruff, afterwards give them a kiss or rubs in the head or hugs to let them know you're not mad, and they aren't being punished, just set straight
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 18, 2009 0:37:15 GMT -5
When mine really misbehave(temper tantrum biting, mainly) I scruff, hiss at them, and tell them "no bite" very firmly. I've even been known to scruff them with my mouth, when my hands are full of ferret . for acting up otherwise, I use time outs. Empty carrier, and in they go for 3 minutes(no longer, or they forget why they're in there ). As for stopping them from going under the dishwasher? And yes- that's duct tape, and an old cupboard door in front of it That door only works because they stand on top of it to try to move it Only thing that's worked to date!
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Post by curiouscasper on Nov 18, 2009 2:29:49 GMT -5
Duct tape what an amazing idea , I love my ferrets but I have to teach some boundaries. and I have to teach Maddie not to bite to hard, she never broke skin but she pinches. Was having a blast with her though today. She was actually playing I got so excited.
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Post by ferretdroogies on Nov 18, 2009 2:40:10 GMT -5
OMG Sherrylynne, why didn't I think of that?! I love duct tape! Pandora, our biter, has learned to not bite to get her way by using the method sherrylynne mentioned. She still likes to do this to new people but she's been getting better about it. Raw (whole pieces, not ground) and/or whole prey diets have been said to help with biting problems because they get their "aggression" or urge out on the RMB or whole mouse, etc. I think Sherrylynne has experienced this from the diet switch?
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Post by Heather on Nov 18, 2009 2:56:14 GMT -5
I think you're right, at least to a degree. I believe that sherrylynne did indeed notice a difference in her little furry fang beast when being fed raw. I know that I saw a difference in Mad Max, and an even bigger difference with Lady "B", Attila and Ghenghis. Unfortunately, Fun-Go came to me already eating raw and that hadn't tempered his love of sinking his teeth into human flesh and when I think about it, it didn't help Athos either....but both of those little ones were deaf so that becomes an entirely different issue that one has to deal with. ciao
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 18, 2009 23:41:28 GMT -5
Actually, I noticed a difference in all my little vampires once they were chowing down on bone
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Post by curiouscasper on Nov 19, 2009 0:16:04 GMT -5
I want to get my pets into raw food but I do not know if I can afford it. It seems a lot heather for them, maybe in a month or so I can start :-p. Right now they are on marshalls food, which is good, but raw would be better. And I am scared to give them live food lol.
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Post by Heather on Nov 19, 2009 0:36:51 GMT -5
Cost is probably higher than Marshals (not a really good brand of ferret food but I suppose better than some, it does make them smell worse though ) If you were to feed high end kibbles, yes you could easily feed raw cheaper, but then you also must look at other costs rather than just the now (this part is diffcult I know ).... I have saved huge amounts in just not having to visit the vet near as often. Some of the major diseases that fuzzies get are diet related. I also find that if the fuzzy is sick, they hold up better (don't dehydrate near as quickly), they also recouperate better. Unfortunately, a sick fuzzy is something that one inevitably faces, it's not a matter of if but a matter of when. By feeding a natural diet (you don't have to feed live), I find that I can sometimes hold of the inevitable for a little longer. ciao
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Post by ccretarolo on Nov 19, 2009 2:08:24 GMT -5
I agree with Heather in terms of cost. While it's a little more expensive in the present, feeding raw will save you a lot of money in the long run.
A big cost difference is dental cleaning. Raw bones naturally keep teeth clean so you never need to take your fuzzies into the vet for dental work. Most vets charge around $100 per ferret for a dental cleaning and it's recommended that kibble fed ferrets get a cleaning done at least once every other year.
Another huge difference I've noticed is that raw fed ferrets can have a stronger immune system. Just last week, I know that Mogli caught a bug of some sort since he was sneezing, had a runny nose, and was constantly tired. With lots of sleep, he was able to get over it within a few days. Ozzy, who's been on raw since he was 7 weeks old, didn't get sick at all.
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Post by katt on Nov 22, 2009 13:41:01 GMT -5
Where do you get Swheat scoop (i.e. does Pet Co carry it)? Is it dusty at all? How is it for minimizing odors compared to Yesterday's News or just plain old newspaper?
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Post by curiouscasper on Nov 22, 2009 22:30:20 GMT -5
Now how would I go about switching from marshals to raw food? I know you can not abruptly change their food or they will not eat it..
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Post by Heather on Nov 22, 2009 23:53:39 GMT -5
You can either post your questions in the nutritional section, or apply for a mentor (also in the nutritional section) I would also prowl around in the mentoring section and read how some of the students there started their little ones on a natural diet. There are as many ways of switching ferts as there are little fuzzbutts Some require a little more enticement than others, some just jump right and go for it from the start....that's nice but most times they need a little push....some need a bigger push Good luck, keep asking questions, we'll try and answer them for you ciao
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