Ferrets in the dark....

Yesterday was Saturday so the ferrets were out and about all day long as my Husband and I were home. It was getting close to bedtime, time to tuck the Six Pack into their FN cage for the night. I was in another room when our power went out. Yikes! The lights didn't come back on, and I was resigned to trying to find all 6 of the ferrets in the dark! Add to that the fact that I still needed to scoop the litter pans for the night.

Thankfully most of the ferrets had already tucked themselves into hammies in the cage. With the help of a flashlight I found that 5 of them were safely in the cage already. Moki on the other hand, the one we call Moki Monster for a reason was ready to play. He seemed to like the pitch black in the room, he was out and about. I might also add very helpful in scooping poopies in the dark.

With a little bit of effort we got everything taken care of and the kids safely in their cage. An hour later the lights came back on. Power outages, things you never think about until it happens when living with ferrets.

The Magic Food Bowl

Anyone else have one of these around there house? I'm not sure what makes it so special, but it most certainly must be magical. It attracts ferrets like no other food dish in the house, well except maybe the soupie dishes.

It is a small bowl that sits out in the ferret room in addition to the two regular crocks that the ferrets have available to them in their cage which they have access to at all times. The magic food bowl is the only one to go empty, and it usually happens within minutes of it being filled. There is nothing special about the food it contains, same stuff as in the other bowls.

When I let the ferrets out each morning, I also replace the food and water in their FN cage. Why then do I have ferrets hovering around the magic food bowl giving me a look that says "Mommy if you don't fill my food bowl soon I'm gonna starve!"?

Variety is the Spice

Or so they say! I want to offer a variety of foods to the ferrets, this will help keep their diet balanced and hopefully them used to trying new things.

Our next step was to try some egg, I got a little wild too and threw in a very small bit of ground beef. Both were added to the standard chunky chicken soup. It went over very well with all 6 of them. It's moments like this that help keep me motivated to continue with the switch.

In the photo you see Mojo on the right, Cracker Jack in the upper right corner and that is Ozzy sneaking in from the left. Of all the things I've tried so far this has been one of their favorites.

Determination

Before heading down this path to transition my ferrets to a more natural diet, I had been warned that I should be prepared for it to take time. I'm feeling good about our progress thus far as I really don't have high expectations for a quick transition. Ferrets can be stubborn!

Really it has more to do with olfactory imprinting. At a very young age ferrets determine what is food based on the smell of the food items offered to them. The 6 Pack have been kibble fed up until now, with my youngest being about 14 months old I am certain that the only things they recognize as food are items that smell like kibble.

Every time I start to get a little down about our progress they surprise me and try something new. Sometimes it is one of the not so daring kiddos finally deciding to give something a try. Thus far I think the best motivation for me is Cracker Jack, he gets this look each night when I come in to the ferret room. I can only describe this look as an expression in which he is saying "Where's my meat Mommy?" I'll have to try to get a picture of his look, so you can truly understand what he is saying.

Gizzards?!

What kind of word is that? I can tell you it is one that strikes me funny, it looks funny and sounds funny to me.

While at the grocery store I found I could by a package of chicken hearts and gizzards so I decided to give it a try. Cost was less than $2.00, I was sure I would end up throwing it all away but I would never know if the ferrets like it or not if I didn't try.

I warmed a few up by soaking them in hot water for a few minutes and then finely chopped them up by hand. I had no idea what I was actually serving, if it was hearts or gizzards or maybe both. I guess I've lead a sheltered life and I don't know how to tell which is which. Any way I chopped them up and served them mixed into the nightly soup.

The addition to the soup didn't stop them from eating their soup, but they sure did pick around those hearts and or gizzards.

Natural Feeding week 1

So I got all excited about the thought of switching my ferrets to a more natural diet that I soooo went there and tried to serve them some pinkie mice. Nothing doing, and I'm not really surprised. I'm not even sure what possessed me or how I even found the courage to do this.

At the same time I did serve up some chunks of raw chicken and one small chicken leg, bone and all. Nobody seems interested in chewing up the bites of chicken, Cracker Jack thought they were fun to run off with and hide. I dutifully followed along behind him, cleaning up his stash. It was a sight to watch him run off with the chicken leg with a look of excitement. He looked so proud of his new possession, but he didn't try to eat any of it.


I decided that we would maintain through my work week, having a chunky soup dinner in the evening with kibble available 24 X 7 as it always has been. We'd do the experimentation with new things or ways for me to serve it on the weekends. We'll see where that leads......

Always learning...

One thing I have learned in my time with ferrets, is that I myself am always learning. What works for one ferret will not work for other ferrets. Additionally what works today may not work tomorrow as the ferrets learn themselves.

We started with a plexiglass gate, standard 2' x 3' that we just velcroed to the door frame. This successfully kept up to 6 different ferrets in the ferret room for over a year. Then one day Moki realized if he pogo'd long enough he had enough momentum to grab on to the top and pull himself over.

I figured I'd fix him, and just raise the height by purchasing a larger piece of plexiglass. Now we were at 2' 4" X 3' and this worked successfully for another year.

Then one day Ozzy realized that if he pogo'd long enough he could reach the top and pull himself over. This left me in a quandry if I raised the height again I would not be able to climb over it. So our cleaver idea was to put some tubing at the top edge, so the little 'devils' couldn't get a grip to pull themselves over.

Not pretty but functional all the same. This lasted all of about a month, and then Ozzy realized that he could leverage himself just right on the actual door to the room that he was able to push the plexiglass away from the velcro at the bottom and squeeze through. Aarrghh!

Now we are trying this, they can't push it out based on how it is positioned, it is too wide for little ferret paws to grab on to the top edge if they jump up. It's working for now!!

Anyone betting on how long it takes for one of them to figure a way out?