# Odd ferret behaviour



## BrynAndKatie (Jun 14, 2012)

Hi everyone,

We rescued/purchased our little jill ferret about 2 months ago, when she was roughly 2/3 months old herself. The previous owner kept her in a shed with a much older jill and a rough, but neutered hob, and was going to drown all three to make room for a new lawnmower (???), but luckily all of them found homes, and we took our little girl home, within minutes of meeting her.

For what is technically a rescue ferret, our Maddie has an excellent temperament, and we haven't had any malicious or aggressive behaviour whatsoever, even when introducing her to strangers, and is very playful and active whenever she is out (any time, apart from bedtime)

However, since we bought her at university (our accommodation allows all pets aside from puppies), and moved back to our summer location, she has had really bad sleep patterns, and although ferrets need lots of sleep, and usually do so whenever they feel tired, she used to get on with her own business while we slept, or were out for a few hours. Now, she has been insisting on waking us up, approaching 20/30 times in the night, grinding her teeth on her cage.

Her house, as we call it, is very spacious, and we only put her in it when we go to bed, and have the lights turned out, which is something we kept up, for the whole time we have had her, but only now, is she biting and scrapping the cage. Ferrets are known for their stubbornness, and being insistent on doing their own thing, when they want to, but as the owners, we feel that she should be respecting our sleeping, as well as getting a regular pattern for herself.

She is also having difficulty following simple commands, which ferrets are intelligent enough to know, such as no, or stop and still has issues with where she goes to the toilet. In her previous home, she was allowed to go wherever she liked, but we have been steadily teaching her to use puppy training pads, as she hated the feel of litter on her feet, but still will go in the nearest corner, when she needs to go. Will obedience just come in time, or do we have an especially stubborn pet? 

Thanks in advance for your help,

Bryn, Katie and Maddie the ferret (in the picture)

x


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## FourFerrets (Oct 10, 2009)

When we had our cage in the living room, one of our ferrets would (and still does occasionally) bar bite.
We moved the cage into the dining room (less disturbance), and the bar biting calmed down loads.

When we moved house we had to have the ferrets set up in the bedroom until we had sorted the rooms out. 
The bar biting started up again. It would keep us up at night.
Once they were back into a quieter place it calmed down again.
Now Kevin (the offender) bar bites if his bowl gets emptied, or if he particularly wants a treat, and occasionally he just wants out to make sure that he has left something in the right place!!

With regards to the pooing in the convenient corner....
You can try and put something in the way or just put paper down (easier to clean up).
You can try and move her quickly if you spot her about to go, but then you may have a leaking ferret as you run across the room 

If she uses the same corner everytime it should be easier to catch her, before she does the business.


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## BrynAndKatie (Jun 14, 2012)

We've discovered that she bites and claws the bars just for attention, regardless of if its bad attention(we tell her off, because its 3am, and there are 3 people in the house who need to be up early) or if good, if she wants treats or playtime, which you can't really ignore or punish her for.

The business of going to the toilet in the wrong places still hasn't cleared up. She uses her cage perfectly, when she is in it, and has a select corner that she will always use, furthest away from her food, but if she is out, with us, even in a small room, with her cage fully accessible, she will either go for the nearest corner for ease, or a secluded spot (just behind the TV or under the bed, where we can't get to easily) for privacy. 

She has absolutely no problems going in the corner of her cage, and has, on occasion, clawed and chewed on the outside of her cage to get back in to go to the bathroom in there, where we praise her, but seems to ignore any discipline, and doesn't care/listen when we tell her off for going in the wrong place.

We've tried scruffing and dragging, as a mother would do, giving time-outs, and hissing/shouting "no", meanwhile praising any good behaviour, so we have no idea what to do with her. Ferrets are intelligent creatures, so they really should pick up a sense of right and wrong, but at present, she's struggling with basic things we have been trying to teach her since we got her (where to go to the toilet, not to bite the edge of the cage, and even getting her to recognise her name is rarely successful).

Any more help would be massively appreciated, because we both have experience with animals, but she seems to be far more stubborn than any other ferret we've met, or any other pet for that matter.

Bryn and Katie

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