QUESTION:
Help! I need your advice. Ellie my female ferret
has developed an annoying behavior I do not know
how to control: Whenever she wants to come out of
her cage she starts to dig the pellets out of her
litter box and makes a mess (Not the main one which
her and the other ferrets use as their bathroom but
I put a smaller one next to it just so she won't
poop on that corner). The smaller litter box has
been there for almost 3 months without incident and
sometimes she uses it as her litter box which is
great but for the past couple of days she's been
using it as a digging box whenever she wants to come
out of her cage. I tried putting poops on each corner.
I tried yelling, "No" at her (She just
stops and stares at me but the moment I walk out
of sight she begins digging again). I put her on
time out (Leave her 20-30 minutes in her cage while
I take the others out or put her in the carrier,
the one I bought from you). I even scruffed her (I'm
not sure if this is the correct terminology for it
but I would put her upside up on the cage floor,
without hurting her and just holding her there and
say out loud, "No!").
I don't want to give her the wrong discipline. Can
you please tell me what to do so she can stop doing
this? Its only been 3 days so I know its not ingrained
in her brain). I don't want to remove the small
litter box because I don't want her to begin digging
in the big litter box, either. I am frustrated.
ANSWER:
First of all you cannot discipline a ferret, so
no matter what you do, all you are doing is upsetting
her more! She is doing that for a reason, most likely
a health reason. For now if the mess is bothering
you, take the litter out of the pan and leave it
in there empty.
When you go to the vet, make sure she
does a Blood Glucose Test, all she has to do is take
a tiny drop of blood and check it on a glucometer(used
by diabetics) to make sure she is not hypoglycemic
(low blood glucose), until then increase her baby
food to 2 or 3 times a day. Her behavior could be
due to low blood sugar, also that bout of diarrhea.
Whenever a ferret starts to do something unusual
it is indicative of illness. Do not even think of
punishing any of the ferrets, it just makes matter
worse, they are not children, but very sensitive
animals. She also senses your frustration and that
makes her more nervous. The Rescue Remedy will work
fine for her, you will see a difference.
|
