Sabriel and the Ferret

[Brandy DW]

I just got two ferrets today. One boy, one girl. Both neutered/spayed. They have their first distemper shots. I asked the vet to make sure that no diseases can be spread from one to the other, everything should be good.
So my boys name is Podo, he's the one you'll see in the video. My girls name is Kodo. Yes, I did get the names from the tv show The Beastmaster...
When I first let Sabriel in the room with them, she was terrified of them. Then she slowly started getting better. This is them probably 10 minutes after Sabriel first saw them.

 

[Trish Allearz]

I've always found ferrets/cats make great friends- the ferret usually bops around and the cats follow...

 

[Kristin]

I was just talking to my mom yesterday about how similar cats and ferrets are haha

 

[Brandy DW]

Right now Sabriel is still scared of them kind of. Then when I put them in her crate earlier (because I took them back to the place I got them to get their claws trimmed for free) she decided she was going to half attack the cage. Other times she just seems really interested. So I'm going to certainly have it be a very slow introduction before I let one of them out with her. I don't want either animal getting hurt, and these ferrets seem to play fight a lot, I would think they were truly fighting by how rough they are but then they sleep together...

Also right now with the ferrets with just bringing them home yesterday I want to give them time to adjust to their new environment. Hopefully I can get them litter box trained quickly, it was quite an annoying surprise this morning when I found poo or pee on almost every landing of their habitat. I don't know if they are marking it or what. Cleaned it up, used some natures miracle on a paper towel and then wiped on the shelves. So far it's fun having them but a little frustrating.

 

[Patti]

What kind of litterbox do you have for them Brandy? I found that you pretty much need a litterbox in every corner of the cage otherwise they will go there anyway.

 

[Brandy DW]

What kind of litterbox do you have for them Brandy? I found that you pretty much need a litterbox in every corner of the cage otherwise they will go there anyway.

I just have one in one corner. They sleep in one of the corners (even though they have the Dice hammock/bedding thing) and so from what I read they won't go where they sleep. I have there food and water in another corner (although I'm thinking of moving those higher now that they both climb to different sections of the habitat) and then their pooing in one of the corners. I'm thinking of moving the litter box there since they are already going there. They like to move the litter box to the middle of the cage, so I'm thinking of getting a hole in it and then securing it to one of the corners.

Also this morning they did not go on the shelves during the night, so happy with that! The people at petco, and from what I've read online are saying that if you scoop the poo into their litter box they will eventually understand that is where they are supposed to go. Hopefully that happens. I think after this bedding is changed, I'm going to use old (but clean) shirts as the bedding and from what I've read online they are less apt to use that as a place to go.

Sabriel is upset with me, she doesn't like me spending any time with them, but then when I try to play with her, with her toys she's always too interested in them to play. She also keeps sniffing her cage from when the ferrets were in their yesterday. I hope eventually she gets used them, I didn't realize that this would be so hard on her, I didn't expect her to be frightened of them - yet curious of them at the same time. They've sniffed noses a couple of times now, maybe eventually they'll play together but it'll be a long while before I even chance it.

 

[Kristin]

I used to work in a pet store, and we had to zip tie the litter boxes to the ferret cages because they loved to move them...and then go to the bathroom where the litter box was

 

[Brandy DW]

So I had the ferrets checked at the vet today *for free no less * and they both came out with good check ups. He said it was okay to use air fresheners (except for frebreze, because that causes respiratory issues with them) and it's helping with the smell a lot! I don't think it will be bad for Sabriel either because I mean people use the air wick plug ins all the time with pets. I think I'm going to turn them down though because they are a bit strong. But I'm just happy that the ferret smell can get better lol.

 

[admin]

Glad to hear the smell is getting better! Look forward to photos!

 

[Trish Allearz]

There is an additive that cuts down on ferret smell... Also- something I learned from ferret rescue- don't use the bedding from the store. Instead, use baby blankets which you can toss in the wash. That significantly cut down on the reek.