ferret training

[darren m 1]

ferret training -- is it neccersary .

 

i know my jills up to the job , but what about her kitts .

 

there 11 weeks old now and mad as hatters , they are good to handle , but when the mood takes them they run / bounce round with arched backs and there mouths wide open and then dive at me ( and boy can they jump ). they wanna be picked up all the time , but soon as you do they struggle to get free again bloody loones .

i watched them do this to each other and wonder - is this play or is it aggression .

 

Also need tips on training the 2 young ones , or will it come natural from the mother .

 

thanks

[gibby 0]

Yep its all play, part of there growing up in strength and confidence.

 

With regards to ferret training, its unnecessary. Just keep them fit and if you have any pipes or anything suitable let them run through it etc. But the hunting part comes naturally. Dont expect too much from them at first but they catch on dead quick! Within a few outings they'll be pretty good hunters usually.

[Malt 379]

Sounds like play to me, and happy ferts! I just 'borrowed' this paragraph from Wikipedia, under ferret:-

The war dance

It is easy to confuse this invitation to play and/or expression of happy excitement with a threatening gesture. Posture becomes rigid with wide open jaws, momentary eye contact, followed by thrashing or turning of the head from side to side, arching the back, piloerection and hopping to the side or backwards while facing the intended playmate. This is often accompanied by an excited laughing/panting sound that may sound like a hiss. If responded to appropriately, this behavior will usually break into a game of chase, pounce and wrestle. Ferrets in war dances are very accident prone, often hopping into obstacles or tripping over their own feet to great comic effect.

 

It's also known as the weasle war dance. Hope this clarifys things!

Edited July 30, 2007 by maltenby

[Scuzy 1]

my albino hob always does a "war Dance" in my garden and i train him by pulling a rabbit carcass through a carpet tube or something...

[Kay 3,709]

ferret training -- is it neccersary .

 

i know my jills up to the job , but what about her kitts .

 

there 11 weeks old now and mad as hatters , they are good to handle , but when the mood takes them they run / bounce round with arched backs and there mouths wide open and then dive at me ( and boy can they jump ). they wanna be picked up all the time , but soon as you do they struggle to get free again bloody loones .

i watched them do this to each other and wonder - is this play or is it aggression .

 

Also need tips on training the 2 young ones , or will it come natural from the mother .

 

thanks

 

darren there normal healthy kits doing normal healthy kit things, dont worry , if they were just curled up aslepp all the time i would be worried my kits the same, she is a little madam

[darren m 1]

just had them out this morning and now the jills doing the same thing .

 

in the court/shed shes fine , but i put here down on the lawn for excercise and she went into one of these "war dances" but here fur was up on tail and body and she was chattering , i went to pick her up she was just bouncing at me with her mouth wide open .

so i left her to explore , and 2 minutes later she was fine and calm again .

 

is the jill acting like the kitts or is that aggresion , its the 1st time shes done this ARE they trying it on little buggers .

[darren m 1]

ps. whats piloerection mean

Edited July 31, 2007 by darren m

[ferret15 0]

just had them out this morning and now the jills doing the same thing .

 

in the court/shed shes fine , but i put here down on the lawn for excercise and she went into one of these "war dances" but here fur was up on tail and body and she was chattering , i went to pick her up she was just bouncing at me with her mouth wide open .

so i left her to explore , and 2 minutes later she was fine and calm again .

 

is the jill acting like the kitts or is that aggresion , its the 1st time shes done this ARE they trying it on little buggers .

 

 

it play its what happy healthy ferts do !!

 

i think i remember you saying she was pregnant when you found her so thats why shes only just started doing the war dance ( i didnt feel much like dancing when i was pregnant ) enjoy it, and dont worry shes not going to attack you shes trying to get you to play i have cried with laughter on so many occasions they are so much fun and it helps build a bond !

[Malt 379]

ps. whats piloerection mean

 

 

 

 

It's a medical term for the hair standing on end, nothing else!

I had to google it to find out myself!

 

 

Don't worry about your ferrets war dance, if she was being agressive she wouldn't bother with it, she'd just go for you! You will have to put the kits in there place though if they get too carried away and start to nip too hard. There are plenty of websites that offer tips on how to nip train your ferrets, some often contradict others, so look at a few and take something from each of them and build your knowlege from a few good sites, rather than just reading one. If I have time later, I will hunt out some good sites and post some links. Good luck.

[Madcowz 0]

You will have to put the kits in there place though if they get too carried away and start to nip too hard.

 

If I have time later, I will hunt out some good sites and post some links. Good luck.

 

 

Would appreciate that as well, we are training ours by saying no and blowing on their noses, sometimes we push the finger in to their mouth further which they don't like. But the more ideas/techniques the better.

 

Do you guys let your ferrets mouth your hands? That is what ours are doing just now. Sometimes they just mouth, other times they do, not bite, but nip.

 

We are discouraging all of it

 

Looking forward to the War dance, have seen it befor on other ferrets but ours are yet to do it.

 

/Mad

[Malt 379]

Here's a few sites I dug out with a couple of quick searches:-

 

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...p;articleid=500

 

 

http://members.aol.com/cbax899/newmine.htm

 

 

http://www.droitwichferretwelfare.co.uk/caring_ferret3.tpl

 

 

British Ferret Club website - LOADS of infomatiion on all things ferret

 

Hope these help, but ferrets are like people in that they all have different personalities, what works for one might not work for them all.

Edited July 31, 2007 by maltenby

[jultaylor1972 2]

That was very helpful information. Thanks for sharing.

[Guest ARTEMIS]

d

Edited August 18, 2007 by ARTEMIS

[darren m 1]

great links mate .

 

many thanks

[hairyarsedscotsman 0]

You will have to put the kits in there place though if they get too carried away and start to nip too hard.

 

If I have time later, I will hunt out some good sites and post some links. Good luck.

 

 

Would appreciate that as well, we are training ours by saying no and blowing on their noses, sometimes we push the finger in to their mouth further which they don't like. But the more ideas/techniques the better.

 

Do you guys let your ferrets mouth your hands? That is what ours are doing just now. Sometimes they just mouth, other times they do, not bite, but nip.

 

We are discouraging all of it

 

Looking forward to the War dance, have seen it befor on other ferrets but ours are yet to do it.

 

/Mad

have you tryed flicking their nose with your finger,gently to start with, harder if they persist or try to bite hard