From:
kellechu
Date: 2002-02-26 11:38:00 UTC
Subject: Re: behavoral questions and treats
In response to:
>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).
Do you use clumping kitty litter or pearl kitty
litter? I've heard stories where the ferret wipes his
behind in the litter and gets it stuck to his bum
area. When he goes to groom himself, he injests the
litter, and it eventually causes an intestinal
blockage. Personally I use the recycled newspaper
pellets, like Yesterday's News, that break down easily
if injested (and no one has tried it, yet!).
All of our ferrets love to move around their
litterboxes, but for now we have thwarted their
attempts. We drilled holes on all sides of the
litterbox and attached 1" metal rings through the
litterbox holes to the cage wires. The metal rings
open easily for removal of the boxes when they need to
be cleaned. You can find these metal rings at office
supply stores--I think they are used as freestanding
binder rings which hold papers together. The playroom
litterboxes are anchored to the drywall. They have
wingnuts that spin off the wall-screw for easily
removal of the box for cleaning. One point though,
most ferrets as they grow older don't like to use the
corner litterboxes because they can't fit their whole
body inside. You might want to try a rectangular box
instead, and see if he prefers that.
>Tonight he scratched all of the litter out of the pan
>for fun.
I usually leave some of the used litter still inside
the box to discourage digging. I pick up all the
poopies, but leave some of the urine soaked litter
mixed with the fresh litter to make it smell more like
a bathroom. My babies love to snorkel in fresh
litter, but if it smells like a bathroom, they'll use
it like one.
>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.
My babies are like this at first. They'll turn up
there nose at anything they haven't tasted or smelled
before. They act like I'm trying to give them
something bad instead of good! So whenever I get a
new treat that they haven't experienced before, I hide
a little in their food. When they eat and accidently
try the treat, they decide they like it. Then when I
offer the treat in my hand, they have smelled and
tasted it before and eagerly take it from me. Sticky
stuff or paste is harder. I usually dab a little on
their nose where they eventually lick it off (or rub
it on the carpet and then lick it off the floor!). If
they like it, they won't resist so much the next time.
If they don't , oh well, some ferrets are picky
eaters. My ferret Castor (who passed away a month
ago) didn't like crunchy treats, he only liked chewy
ones. My other ferret, Paul, is like a vaccuum hose
and sucks up crunchy, chewy, whatever.
>He is an aggressively curious little bit -
>determined to explore where HE wants. Disapline has
>to be repetative and can be frustrating.
Keep in mind he is still a kit, and will be until
about 6 months old. 16 weeks is right in the middle
of the adolescent years (kind of like junior high age
for you and me, and I know I wasn't the best behaved
during those years!). The adolescent years are the
most energetic part of a ferret's life. This time
period requires the most training....and patience!!!
If you keep up with the gentle discipline, he'll turn
out fine. It will get better in about 2 more months,
he'll settle down and won't be so destructive
(hopefully). I have a 1 1/2 year old who went through
his pre-teen years and teen years like a crazy fert!
Now he's so much calmer and likes to be held more. My
10 week old is now starting to get very energetic! My
advice is to enjoy it while you can, because they will
eventually slow down. Keep in mind that they won't be
teenagers forever, just like humans, we all eventually
get over it. Well, most of us anyway!
Kelley and the boys
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