From:
Carol@whitelight.org
Date: 2002-02-25 20:58:00 UTC
Subject: behavoral questions and treats
I know that most of the posting on this board seem to be more health
oriented, but I would dearly love to have some behavioral advice from
the experts.
Reilly (16 week old, 3 lb male) has been in our family since he was 8
weeks old. We started him in a two level cage we had from our
previous ferrets (died 5 years ago). This space confused his litter
training, so we have had him in a smaller, one level cage (2 feet by 3
feet). His hammock freed up some of the floorspace for play and he has
been flawless in his litter training. His one fault is a destrucive
desire to move the kitty litter out of the corner. We wedged it in
with wires and a woodblock on the lid (it is a corner style one, with
a lid).
So now we have moved him back into the two level one. Again, he is
determined to move the litter pan from where ever we put it. It is
harder to brace in this cage, as the lid doesn't clear the door. He
is now using other areas as his bathroom. Tonight he scratched all of
the litter out of the pan for fun.
The boy gets alot of excercise. He gets a morning romp to the bus
stop down a very long driveway and back. He gets lunchtime play
(snoozing deeply between cause he is tired). He gets out again at 4pm
to play with my daughter, and has the run of our family room and
kitchen in the evening with lots of interaction. I really don't think
this is boredom. He is an aggressively curious little bit -
determined to explore where HE wants. Disapline has to be repetative
and can be frustrating.
Suggestions??? Further, he has no interests in treats as rewards. I
have tired three kinds of "Ferret Treats", Furo-Vite, peanut butter,
etc. to no avail. Obviously he is a big boy, and not lacking for food
(Zupreem), but it would be nice to have a reward system.
Thanks for your help,
Carol