From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2005-02-02 00:58:07 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Weight gain after illness getting out of control
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1276210.1107305887957.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Author wrote:
> Okay, I think that's where I screwed up... he saw me put the food in the =
bag. duh! >You think it will take that long, really? what about softenin=
g just the kibble, >adding water to make it gravy-like, instead of using th=
e gravy. Do you think that >will help, too?
It might. Put it someplace where he can be sneaky about it.
How long it takes varies. Usually here it is only days to a week (but we m=
ake certain to NOT let them know that we know until they have been eating a=
hefty amount of kibble for several days straight. We've had a rare few ta=
ke a couple of weeks or slightly longer.
When shifting or teaching a behavior it really pays to work with what is na=
tural for the species, so ferrets are easily taught to blow their noses in =
cloth handkerchiefs because it is like the nose blowing and sneezing which =
they do to loosen the musk glands behind the ears when washing musk over th=
eir faces, and they are easily taught to stand or roll over for treats beca=
use the behavior is so normal for them. That food modification ploy trick =
uses their tendency to stash to advantage. Shaping existing behavior is al=
ways much easier than instilling a completely new behavior no matter what t=
he species is, and it is whatr we normally do with our own species but we d=
on't realize it because we are working within the same framework, so observ=
ation of ferret behavior allows the encouragement and shaping of ferret act=
ions in the easiest way possible because you find out what is normal for th=
e individual or for the species -- just as Katherine uses her ferret's desi=
re to get back to home ground to aid in exercising that particular ferret, =
or like the poster not long ago who found that she could -- without her fer=
ret knowing -- use the ferret's own stash place to get the ferret to shift =
back to eating kibble. Stashing and eating secretely are both behaviors wh=
ich ferrets engage in normally.
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