what kind of games can you teach ferrets and how can you :rolleyes:[SIZE=3]
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what kind of games can you teach ferrets and how can you :rolleyes:[SIZE=3]
[QUOTE=hey hey its shay]what kind of games can you teach ferrets and how can you :rolleyes:
Ferrets are weird animals. My sister owns one ,and he is a mean ass thing. They ctually like stealing so watch him and his teeth and hands.Quote:
Originally Posted by hey hey its shay
I wouldn't say they're MEAN persay but rather extremely hyper and playful. You can train them not to bite, and you can trim their nails so they don't scratch you as much. I had my hand torn up today by a female ferrett we have at work while cleaning out their cage, but she didn't do it on purpose and she most certainly didn't do it out of meanness. They just love to play and LOVE attention.Quote:
Originally Posted by griffinchet
Anyway sorry I can't help you with the original question, though! Ferretts are VERY smart, and learn quickly though! I'm sure if you made up your own games and taught them, they would learn quickly. :)
I dance with my ferret. I jump around her, and she shakes her butt and starts jumping around with me. I also play roll the ball with my ferret. I roll the ball (a ferret ball of course) straight to her, and she brings it back to me. Sometimes she makes me chase after her.
OH my goodness ferrets are the most playfullist animals If i just walk mine will start jumping and biting your ankles.Well for games my ferret liked to chase a broom (it was a fluffy one for cleanig above fans).
for games ferrets will just simply play around. Just start jumping and or try socks mine loves socks and brooms. put your ferret on the bed then put your hand under the blanket and start moving your hand around under the covers (near the ferret) he/she might chase your hand. Thats one game i can think of
You can put your ferret on a towel or blanket and drag it around the floor. They love that. You can also get a cat toy, the kind that hang off a string. They like those pretty well too.
Okay this isn't exactly a "game" but it's something me and my ferret started today. :) I was in the bathtub and Measley likes to get along the edge of the tub. She tries to drink the water but can't reach far enough down. So today I took her and put her on my knees in the bathtub with me! :eek:
She LOVED it! She sat on top of my knees while I held her. She didn't get too wet and thought it was fun!
I love her soo much! She is the coolest! I never liked ferrets before. My father raised them and we'd have about 20-30 ferrets in cages everywhere. I never liked but a few of them because they bite me :( ! But having Measley Weasle has changed my attitude completely! She's my buddy! Now if I could just get my dog from trying to eat her.... :p
I found these on a site my sister used to haunt when she had her ferret Xena.
Bowl Me Over Game: Buy one of those $2 plastic bouncing balls (like at K-mart) and cut a couple of ferret-sized holes in it. [Use more than one hole, so there's no chance the ball could roll onto its hole and trap a ferret inside to suffocate.] Fill the ball with plastic bags or gift-wrapping cellophane, and watch the fun. Watch for chewing the materials, otherwise quite safe.
Suction-cup Chase: Use two large suction cups (about $1 each), and stick one to each side of a room. Thread a washer or ring on a string, then tie the string from one suction cup to the other. Tie a string to the washer and the other end to a toy or waffle-type practice golf ball. They will go nuts trying to get the ball in a hidey-hole.
Maze: Use a large cardboard box. Fold scrap cardboard into triangular shapes, tape, and fill the box with as many as possible. Put one treat in each triangular tube. Cut several holes in the side, and allow the ferts access. Hours-0-fun!
Slip Sliding Away: Cut a 1 ft wide by 3-4 ft long piece of Masonite ($5), and prop it smooth-side up on a bench or sofa. Place a drop of Ferretone in the middle. A drop of ice cream is also good.
Smokey the Bear: This is Bear's favorite game. Fill a file- storage box about 1/3 with sand mixed with potting soil about 4 to 1. Pour in 1/4 bottle of liquid smoke, and mix well. They might be dirty afterwards, but they actually smile! I have watched Bear roll in the dirt for hours, snorting and snorkeling, and anything else you can imagine. It's one of the few things he will run across the floor for. I place it in the kitchen for ease of cleanup later. Keeps them from digging in the litter box.
The Weasel Wonder Tube: Cut a piece of 2inch PVC pipe ($2) about 8 inches long. Place into the hole treats so they have to figure out how to get the treat out. Make sure the ferret's heads don't get stuck.
Carpet Fishing: Use a ice-fishing pole with 20 lb test line. Tie 3-4 red/white bobbers and cast across the room. Reel the babies in at about the speed a mouse would run if it was stupid enough to be in the room at the time. If you don't have the pole, use the string only; the pole makes it much easier, but is not necessary.
Crinkle: Fold an old sheet in half and lay slightly crinkled newspaper or cellophane in the middle. Makes cool sounds. Mine love to wardance on the pile.
Chase the old man: I chase them on my hands and knees, then let them chase me back. You will tire before they do. Watch for carpet-mines [those things which should have gone into the litter box...].
Snake!: Old pant legs are cut from the old pants and just thrown on the floor. They will know what to do. Sometimes I stick one end of a dryer tube into the pant leg.
Box-O-Balls: I fill a cardboard box about 1/3 up with plastic whiffle balls (golf-size) or crumpled paper balls.
Fingers: Cut mucho finger-sized holes in a cardboard sheet. Dip your fingers in Ferretone or liquid smoke. Stick you finger through the hole, and as they try to sniff, move it to another hole. Stay fast or risk nips. All of mine love this game.
Webmaster: Take your hanging plant off the hook, and hang a basket so it is about 2 feet from the floor. Staple cheesecloth or other open weave fabric to the edges of the basket so the free end drags on the floor. Watching them climb up and swing back and forth is a hoot. [A basket hanging a bit lower down, without the fabric, can also be great fun.]
Submarine: Fill the bathtub with 3 or 4 inches of water. Float a dozen or so ping-pong balls; each lightly wiped with Ferretone. (Those tiny plastic footballs work well also.) I put a homemade pine and Masonite ladder over the tub so the beasts can easily climb in and out.
Pickle Race: Dampen crushed chow, mix in a little peanut butter (or some other treat), and mold tiny pickles about 1 inch long. After oven drying, I spray on some Ferretone for that wonderful odor. I call the beasties, let them sniff the "pickles" until they are frothing at the mouth, then toss the treats one at a time across the room At first they will wonder where it evaporated to, but time and odor will teach them to do what my fuzzballs do--run, en masse, after the pickle. Clue: Always use the same sound to call them, and as soon as they get across the floor, use the sound and all but the one with the pickle will return. Throw another pickle. I do this until everyone has a pickle; usually Bear gets the first one, and then crawls all over me until I throw him a second one.
Turtle: I cut up cardboard boxes and assemble new boxes that are about 6in by 8 in, no tops, and a U-shaped cut-out at one end. I put one over each fuzzy, and they run around like turtles.
Sliders: Buy a 5 ft section of while PVC pipe, 4-5 inches in diameter ($2-3). Prop one end up on the sofa, and watch them slide down the tube.
Freak-Out: Fill a paper bag with all the crumpled paper balls it will hold, and then dump them on a playful ferret.
Melissa Litwicki adds these suggestions:
The towel game: Ferrets love towels. Take one corner of a towel, sit on the floor, and swirl it around and over your ferret - they usually go nuts. This can be low-impact or raucous tumbling fun for ferrets of all sensibilities. [Try dragging the towel around on the floor, too, and letting your ferrets take rides on it.]
Dryer hose under a bean bag: one of our all-time favorites. Better than just dryer hose - stretch the hose out so both ends are sticking out either side of the bag. Keeps up to five ferrets busy at once! They go over, under, to either side of the hose under the bag, around, and through. Killer amusement to watch, too. :)
The ping-pong ball: take strong thread and fasten a ping-pong ball to the end. Tie the thread to the ceiling, leaving the ball about two inches above the floor. For most amusing results, if you can spare the room, hang it in a doorway - it bounces off the door to hilarious effect.
The ping-pong ball in a stewpot: Fill pot halfway with water, drop the ball in. Hint: put a towel under the pot. Ferrets get frustrated fast trying to get the ball out, but have fun getting wet. [Various other toys also work well, and ice cubes in a pot or shallow dish are very popular, too.]
Other ideas, from various sources:
Tunneling to Alaska: Fill the bathtub or a big bowl or pot full of snow, put it somewhere that can get wet, and let your ferrets dig in it. Warmer than standing outside watching them tunnel in the drifts there. Try burying a few toys or raisins as you fill the bowl.
Making the bed: Put the ferrets on the bed and watch them dance and tunnel as you shake out the sheets, toss on a few blankets, and fluff the pillows. A good game for busy mornings.
Unpacking game: Whenever coming back from a trip, put your luggage on the bed and the fuzzies next it it as you unpack. They monsters will be of great assistance in helping open up all the zippers, pockets, etc. and dragging out the neat stuff.
Hidden in the Pillow: Pick up fuzzie and stick him/her in the bottom of your pillowcase and watch them explore, turn the pillow over or around in circles periodically to confuse them.
Bag O' Ferrets: Put several ferrets in a large bag: a trash bag, canvas tote bag, duffel bag, whatever. Play peek-a-boo, opening and closing the top. Rattle the plastic, gently poke the outsides, drag the bag around on the floor... just watch out for nips through the bag from overexcited woozles.
Semi-truck: With ferret's back on carpet, drive him around like a toy truck, making truck noises if you are not too proud. Note: some ferrets love this, some don't like it a bit. On hardwood floors, you can slide ferrets on their backs, or spin them around with a finger on the chest. Some like this more than others.
Knit a Sweater: Take a ball of yarn. Keeping one end near you, toss it toward a group of ferrets. Many of them will have a great time rolling in it and trying to unwind it all. When finished, simply roll it back up; don't worry about the knots.
Quote:
Originally Posted by griffinchet
I'd have to say, ferrets are very sweet little things. But like any animal, if they are not socialized or treated kindly they're not going to be friendly.
Ferrets naturally play rough with each other and use their mouth for just about everything. Till the human teaches the ferret that biting the human isn’t allowed he’ll continue to nip and bite.
Like puppies they have to be nip-trained or they don’t understand not to bite.
MY ferrets like to play hide and seek and “tag”. A loose form of the game tag that is.
For Hide and Seek I kind of walk around the house and they follow behind me. When I turn around they’ll run and hide under whatever is closest to me. I then go and “find” them and they get all excited and dance around.
The Tag game is kind of the same only they actually chase me around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by griffinchet
Ferrets are weird animals. My sister owns one ,and he is a mean ass thing. They ctually like stealing so watch him and his teeth and hands.
:mad: :mad: Dont make fun of ferrets!!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Ferrets are NOT nasty at all. They are just like puppies and kittens. They will nip when they are young and when they are playing. You train them like how to train puppies and kittens too. You scruff them and say no, but you NEVER EVER hit them when they nip you.Quote:
Originally Posted by griffinchet
I don't agree they are 'weird' animals. I think they are unique. I may have one someday. :) and I wouldn't neccessarily say they are mean either. My aunt's mom has ferrets and they were the sweetest things ever!! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by griffinchet
I wouldn't say ferrets are mean they like everthere animal have to have the right person.example;some people can handle a german shepherd but other people can handle a budgie and not a german shepherd