Joe wrote:
>apparently this toy makes a squeak that causes her to get hyper
>aggressive.  ... Any ideas on this behaviour?
 
Yes, lots.  This is very normal behavior in many ferrets.  Though no one
knows for sure why ferrets attack, some theories are that the noise sounds
either like a prey animal or a baby ferret being attacked, which in turn
causes the adult to attack.
 
Rather than trying to change this very deep-seated behavior, most people
use it FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY.  My personal suggestion is to put the toy
away in a safe place and ONLY use it to call the ferret if she or he is
ever lost.  When you use this particular toy only for emergencies, you are
not upsetting the ferret and you are not causing anyone to be bitten.  At
this point you know that this behavior will happen, so this is a positive
way to deal with it.
 
>The ferrets seem to think it is kewl and fun to be shot by a water loaded
>water pistol.  However, mix the water with vinegar and they don' like it
>at all.
 
I would strongly advise against shooting vinegar at any animal.  If you
have any doubts why that is not a good idea, I would suggest shooting
vinegar into your own eye and seeing how it feels.  Of course you wouldn't
deliberately do that to your ferret, but it could easily happen and would
have serious consequences.
****
 
Leigh wrote:
>I do agree with your idea of feeding a mix of foods so that they will be
>used to all, in case one changes or goes out of business.
 
I agree.  All of my ferrets eat several different kinds of food on a
regular basis.  Although I find that the MF ferrets are the pickiest,
everyone will eat several varieties of food as well as chicken baby food.
 
With this recent batch of bad TF, I am very glad that my guys were used
to eating different foods.  By the way, I found that that rancid food had
sort of a chemical smell to it, a very odd smell.  Since then I've smelled
the different foods I use to see what they 'should' smell like when fresh.
By far the most appetizing is Innova, which actually smells good.
 
The non-MF ferrets I have are much more adventuresome eaters.  My guess is
the Florida ferrets (from the large rescue operation from the S. Florida
group) may have been fed all sorts of things, as they are willing to try
different foods.
 
--Ronnie
Harry, Merlin, Roxanne, Petunia, Epcot and Clover's mom in Mass.
[Posted in FML issue 3111]