vkp23
Going Natural
Posts: 192
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Post by vkp23 on Jan 4, 2011 6:37:30 GMT -5
Ha! I caught Miko stashing food in mine and my husbands room!! Crazy girl was making trip after trip from her cage to our room. I creep-ed in the room and jumped on the bed and sat real still (so she wouldn't think I was there) and waited to see where she was hiding it. We live in the boonies and have had mice get in the house before and lord knows we can't have ferret food hidden all over the house. The critters would come in droves!! I mean we already have to keep traps set under the sink. (No worries they have child locks on them since there are chemicals down there, and we also have 2 small children. So Miko is safe and can't get to them either) But what is up with the food hoarding?? It's not like she doesn't have 24 hour access to food. I'm still pretty new to ferret owning and didn't know they would store food all over the house! LOL I think it's cute!
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Post by katt on Jan 4, 2011 6:47:09 GMT -5
Yup! That is totally normal ferret behavior! They will hoard anything they can get their little paws on! But especially food! I feed mine in their cage only, and close the cage off when they are out, specifically to avoid that problem. Also, providing a feeding den can help contain most of the hoarding in the den. Cardboard boxes, or plastic tupperwares with a hole cut in them work great.
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vkp23
Going Natural
Posts: 192
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Post by vkp23 on Jan 4, 2011 7:00:21 GMT -5
Ah yes that is exactly what I was going to do once I started her on the switch to a raw diet. I was totally going to get a rubber maid box (Since I made her litter box out of one. works MUCH better for her picky need of a LARGE litter box.) and use it as a feeding den. I'm currently in the process of looking for a ferret to adopt and once I get her a friend I'll be starting the journey to raw feeding (Providing I get a mentor by then. I signed up like a few days ago and haven't heard back about it yet.) But I had heard a lot of great ways to getting them to eat in the food den. I really like the idea since I have two kids also and really could use having ways to keep messes and clean up to a min. Thank you. I really thought it was cute since I had been waiting for the cuteness of ferret hoarding to start. I mean I knew she would try to hoard stuff but didn't know about the food, but she doesn't seem much into anything. Just working at getting into places she shouldn't go. Like the kids play room when the kids are in there playing. Or getting herself stuck in the container my husband keeps in the laundry room for lint he uses as a fire starter. I swear, had I not gotten that collar with a bell on it for her we would NEVER be able to find her.
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Post by shilohismygirl on Jan 4, 2011 7:43:37 GMT -5
Oh yes, as Katt says, totally normal. Mine have a feeding den in their cage, but still try to sneak stuff out of the cage as much as possible.
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Post by Jackie on Jan 4, 2011 7:45:00 GMT -5
Seems like she is completely normal. My girls love to stash everything (socks, pens, shoes, food). I used half of a soda box as a feeding den for my girls, and they seem to do well with it. I haven't found any food in the cage thus far. I used to only let me girls out with a bell collar, but I recently found a squeeky toy they both respond to. So I just let them out without it and squeek it when I need them to come out. It works like magic
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 4, 2011 10:17:24 GMT -5
And not to worry about getting a mentor- we have people graduating all the time
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Post by luci on Jan 4, 2011 12:18:49 GMT -5
I have about seven boxes and bins in the "feeding area" of our office that my two can use as stash dens. They STILL try to run downstairs with food, but it does seem to make them happier that they have so many other approved choices to stash when I stop them from "running with meat." (That's what my SO and I call out when one of them tries to take off downstairs with food. Then whomever is closest knows that it's an emergency situation and can grab the fert and re-direct to the approved area.) I've found that the best way to deal with improperly stashed meat is to have a vulturecat.
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Post by mjohn143 on Jan 4, 2011 13:25:49 GMT -5
Oh gosh, Vanilla Bean is so bad at hoarding food. She even hoards soup!!! It's disgusting, she takes mouthfuls and runs away and spits it out!! If I feed her in the cage she does it there too!! And she does it until the bowl is empty like she doesn't want anyone else to get any!! I have decided to get that white fold out play peen and put a mat underneath it and put them in there to eat bc feeding dens don't work for me bc I have to cut their stuff up to small chunks or they wont touch it. I will have to wait until next paycheck, maybe even the next thanks to Xmas, bc they are overpriced!
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Post by rarnold18 on Jan 4, 2011 15:41:42 GMT -5
hmmm...vulturecat is that of the same family as the vulturedog??? I have one of those, her name is Jezzebelle and if there is meat stashed she will find it and if she can't get to it she'll sit and whine until the obstical is removed so that she can get it!
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Post by katt on Jan 4, 2011 19:01:38 GMT -5
Haha Well while we are on the topic, I learned something interesting last night. As I mentions my boys eat in their cage and the cage is closed when they aren't in it. Well apparently Kenai found a new way around that! I saw him carry something fuzzy in his mouth as he ran under my iguana's cage and could t see what it was - but I knew I hadn't left anything fuzzy out! So I grabbed him and he dropped it and I look under to see a little mouse I gave him yesterday! Thinking that's weird I put it in the cage and turn around to see a chicken heart from that morning sitting under my snake's cage right next to me. Now I'm very confused. A little exploring and I found another under the ferret cage and then I figured it out. He has pushed the litter box slightly away from the back corner (my drill is dead and I can't find the charger so I haven't made holed to clip it to the cage yet). He has been spending time behind the box inthat corner but I didn't think much of it. But apparently he has been taking his food to that corner and somehow stuffing it through the bars so that it falls under the cage and can be eaten and stashed during playtime! It is possible they just FELL through, but it seems to me that the mouse at least must have been shoved through somehow - the bar spaces aren't THAT wide!
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Post by shilohismygirl on Jan 4, 2011 19:35:06 GMT -5
LOL @ Kenai, Katt. He's a smart little firecracker.
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vkp23
Going Natural
Posts: 192
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Post by vkp23 on Jan 4, 2011 21:07:00 GMT -5
That is TOO funny!!!
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Post by miamiferret2 on Jan 4, 2011 22:35:59 GMT -5
I have one of those ferret octoplay toys, the alligator sleepy sack, and a crinkly tunnel. I always find pieces of freeze dried meat in them. I have to shake them out every day. My husband found pieces of the wysong dream treats in his work shoes. Gotta love ferrets. They act like armaggedon is coming and they have to stock up. I wonder if they think that we are just going to stop feeding them one day?
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Post by Heather on Jan 4, 2011 22:46:28 GMT -5
I have a series of tubes that run along the ceiling in the ferret room. They can access these from various sleep boxes, etc. Lady "B" in her infinite wisdom took half a rat and has stashed it in one of those balls (they come with the clear plastic tubes) up on top of one of the cages. There is miles of tubing between that ball and the entrance. Now, I have to dismantle the ball to get at this prize of hers You know, Katt, I think you may have serious mischief in that Kenai. How did you manage to get two of them or do they ship all the little trouble makers to Alaska ciao
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 4, 2011 22:57:46 GMT -5
Mine simply climb the back of the cage, and "hook" meat out with their paws to run and stash
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