| Cage enrichment from Bob Church and a few of my own - CLICK HERE for the Pet Manual Forum Home Page |
| KG |
Back in August, noted ferret expert, Bob Church spoke at the Buckeye
Ferret Bash. I haven't had a chance to check out the tips yet. We've
been renovating the house the ferrets have been confined to the ferret
room or their playpens.
The first and easiest. Get a makeup brush and stroke the ferrets face
in the direction that the fur grows. This is supposed to simulate
grooming by the mother or another ferret. It's worked great on my dog.
Use scents to create variety in the ferrets environment. 25% of a
ferrets brain is devoted to scent. Get essential oils and place scents
on the ferrets toys. Rub toys on your friend's pets if you don't have
that pet in your own home. Put the toys in thier cage or play area. If
you live near an outdoor store you might be able to pick up scents
hunters use. This would be of more interest to some ferrets than just
using candle scents or eesential oils.
Make a den for your ferret. Get a rubber made box about 1 ft high by 2
ft long and 1 ft wide and get a pvc drain pipe. Trace a hole the size
of the pipe onto the box. Warm it up with hote water and then wedge
the pvc pipe into the hole. You now have a ferret den. Bob says this
is his ferrets favorite place to sleep.
Some non Bob Church stuff that I know works with my guys.
Tubes of any kind. I use the clear ones outside of the cage and the
pvc pipe in the cage. I prefer the 4" diameter. I have some big boys.
I also cover them with jean legs. Gives them something to work off the
pope.
Take plastic jingle balls and place them in a sock. Great fun until
the sock disappears.
Water is always a big hit. I put a bowl inside a big litter box to
reduce spillage and let them go to town. I put floating toys in it.
Mostly I use baby toys, but some fo the ferret toys float and some
ferrets will retrieve toys and treats from the bottom of the bowl.
Downside is the dog likes to get in on the act.
Baby rattles hung from the top or sides of the cage. Baby rattles that
make music if a button is pressed. Drives them nuts. I stick to the
hard plastic ones only. Some ferrets *may* shred the cloth ones.
Anything not attached tothe cage ends up in the litter box. Plastic is
easier to clean off.
A few of mine like the wiggle giggle ball. Hobbes steals it all the
time from the others and hides in the back of my bedroom closet.
The weasal tail ball. That is another favorite. I like to put it into
tubes.
I've tried cypurr mouse. While it was a big hit, the ferrets quickly
disabled it, took the wheels in one direction while another ferret
took the mouse in a different direction.
I haven't tried the jitter mouse.
Cat teasers are shredded in less than 15 minutes. The ferret teasers
from Marshall's hold up amazingly well. We got almost a year out of
the first one.
Remote control cars have been a disaster every time we tried. The
ferrets go for the wheels on the car and there is always one that goes
for the remote.
What works for your babies?
KG
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