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Leo & Lilly
• They found a Forever Home February 10, 2018! |
June 26, 2018:
Shelter Mum: Did you get my response to your question last Friday?
Kathy: No, I didn’t, however I think I now know what the problem is….I have the bottom door of the ferret cage propped open, and he’s learned that he can stand on the half shelf in the cage and climb up the top half of the cage. Then he jumps from the top of the cage, to a table next to their pen.
I thought I might have a resolution, as I changed which bottom door I had propped open and propped the one on the other side (away from the half shelf), but he’s just agile enough to reach from the half shelf and still pull himself up that side of the cage.
Ugh!!! I really wish he understood that he’s ruining a very nice set up for the two of them.
Shelter Mum: Just take the cage doors off the bottom of the cage. They pop right off and are easily put back on. Wait do you have a ferret nation cage?
Kathy: Yes, I have them in the ferret nation cage you sent me. The only reason I would prefer to have the door left on, is the ferrets toss their food all over the cage, and some of it falls into the bottom portion. Once when the door got left open, one of my cats was in there trying to eat whatever she could find…I’m sure the next step would be for the smaller more agile ones to figure out that they can climb through the hole above the half shelf to get to the ferret food that out 24/7 on the top shelf.
Shelter Mum: Then we need to cover the cage door with coroplast like I did some of ours to keep them from climbing. See attached:
Kathy: We thinking something along those lines. I was thinking that if I got it measured and hole drilled in the corners, I could use twisty ties to secure it to the cage door. If you have a better idea for attaching the coroplast, I’m open to the suggestions.
Shelter Mum: Take a look at a close up- I use zip ties to secure ours with the tails on the outside of the cage so the ferrets can't chew on my. I won't use twist ties because one of our ferrets was chewing on one and put the wire through the top lip. Zip ties work best for us. I fit the coroplast inside the frame. If need be I have covered both sides.
June 23, 2018:
Hi Brenda,
Hope you’re doing well and getting to enjoy the start of summer...Last night, Leo got out of his pen 4 times!!!! The first time was my fault, as the latch to his Ferret Nation cage wasn't securely latch, so it swung open and he climbed up it… However, he got out 3 more times after that, so today I had to lock them in the Ferret Nation cage, while we’re at work. Of course, he never tried to escape when I was watching, but I checked and double checked everything and the only thing I can think of is he’s just big enough to climb over the pen. I’m sure you’ve had ferrets that have done that, and is there anything I can do about it, as I hate leaving them locked in so much, but have no ideas what I can do to stop this problem. Do they make any taller pens???
Shelter Response: Yesterday was first day of vacation. Oh boy, Yes I've done that from time to time. Is there anything in the pen that he can get on to pole vault from the pen? When we use the pens we do not put anything that will give them something to get up on to just to the edge of the pen to get out. No they seem to be smarter than that. Can Mark get you some cardboard cores from work? you may even have some available at the offices you work at. Make a slit from top to bottom and put over the top edge of the pen. This makes it hard for the ferrets to get a good hold to pull themselves up and out. No they do not but if he is climbing them then I don't expect taller would slow him down.
April 30, 2018:
Hi Brenda,
Sorry I couldn’t answer you sooner, but I was away at the end of last week.
Leo & Lola are doing fine. They’re looking forward to coming to the clinic in June. They have their own opinions on where they should poop, and since they didn’t use the litter box I took it out of their cage, as they were just knocking it around. I have put papers in the corners that they seem to use, however, they like to shred them before, during & after use, so it’s a bit challenging. They also have their own ideas about the placement of their water source, as I use 2 crock type bowls, and put one in their cage and one in their play area. They never end up staying where I put them, and along with that, they tend to get the water all over the place. So they’re in a constant state of undermining whatever I try to do to keep things a bit organized!
Glad to hear your doing better,
Kathy
HI Brenda,
Here’s one of my bad photos! I took it at night & since I have an old house, the lighting is terrible! Anyway, this is the pic I got (using the flash), of my two when they got their soup.
Kathy
January 4, 2018:
Hi Brenda,
More than glad to update everyone!
Leo & Lilly are doing very well. They have monstrous appetites and have both gained weight & have nice coats. They quickly took to your soup once they were started on it.
We did have a minor escape over the holidays, as I was away visiting my family for Christmas. Mark was changing the papers in the corner of their pen, and didn’t realize that it had become unhinged during the process. I don’t know how long the escape lasted, but he was able to corral both of them.
I haven’t been able to use the covers for the floors of the cage, as they both would just soil them, so instead I have papers in the cage in the areas that they prefer to use as toilets. Seems like you have to accommodate where they want to toilet, instead of the areas that you would have preferred!
Both have been very good, sweet and active.
Take care, Kathy
PS – if I can get a nice photo, I’ll email it to you. However, either they’re moving around or if they’re sleeping it’s in a spot where it’s hard to take a photo from and/or they wait up and start moving!