How can I stop my ferret from shaking the cage?

Question

He come out to play during the day, and some more before we go to bed.. they get lots of play time. But it seems that my one ferret is awake way more often then my other one, and he claws and bites the bars of the cage. Not only is it very noisy, but I'm afraid he's going to break a tooth off. Any ideas to get him to stop? He already spends ALOT of time out of his cage. I think he's insomnic.. hah. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

ferrets when awake are highly energetic (my ferret is 7, blind, and still acts like a lil kit!) i would get a lot of toys for them to play with, little balls, tunnels, and such to keep him occupied. what i would also do is switch out the toys every so often, that way he doesnt get bored with the assortment he has, it will always seem new. and how big is the cage? you may possibly need a bigger one for the 2 if your 1 is getting antsy. i would also take some toys and put treats in them, so that way he has a reason to be playing with them, and trying to get out the goodies will hopefully occupy his time.

Answer 2

shake him back until he doesn't move.

Answer 3

There are many reasons a ferret may exhibit signs of cage stress and lots of different things to try to help correct it. You are correct that he may break a tooth so it is important to find a solution as soon as you can. :-)

First and most common reason is boredom, he may simply need something a little more challenging to do. Putting some toys and enrichment activities in the cage may help, offering a few different snacks (chicken wings, fresh salmon, etc.) to nibble on can help along with a few toys like a crochet egg, a dangle toy (tie it to the bars above), etc.

In addition be sure that when out of cage they are not sleeping, tiring them out goes a long way towards getting them to sleep at night. If you can try taking him into a new environment to explore (like on a leash at night) or offering a different game during nightime play. Stair slide is popular and tires them out fast, you take a tube and run it down a length of stair, the ferret goes in the tube down the stairs (not too high or too steep though) and then has to run back up to do it again. This builds muscle and running up stairs just like for humans is very tiring.

Second try to provide a quiet and dark environment at night. If there is something going on in the room the ferret cage is in they will want to come out and investigate. If it's all lights out and quiet in the room the ferret is more likely to sleep. Sometimes putting a blanket over the cage at night will help to block out visual stimulation and the ferret will sleep better, just be sure that on hot summer nights it's not too hot in the cage under the blanket, a black canvas cloth is great all year round and the black colour will keep it darker in the cage.

Finally ensure that he is healthy, if this is a sudden change in his behavior it could indicate a medical issue. Adrenal disease will occur in about 80% of North American ferrets over their lifetime. Ferrets with adrenal disease often exhibit symptoms of an intact animal in season, this can include restlessness. If you see any other symptoms and the above suggestions don't help then checking with your vet might be a next step, as you can rule out any medical causes. Diseases like adrenal disease are more likely to occur in older ferrets but it has been diagnosed in ferrets as young as 5mos. It's more likely a behavioural issue and not medical but I felt it was important to mention both so you know what to look out for should the suggestions from myself and others not work.

I have included a few relevant links below, should you want some information about any of the suggestions.

Good luck, I am sure that you'll all be sleeping easy soon! :-)

Answer 4

Marijuana

That'll keep the little Devil Quiet for while

Answer 5

There are a few things you can do. But first, here are a few questions:

How old is he? I bet it's a younger ferret - probably less than a year to a year and a half old? Sometimes they grow out of it. And yes, he can chip his teeth doing that.

How much time does he get out of the cage? Does he have enough toys in the cage to keep him busy? Getting some crocheted eggs that make noise could help. Putting a kong inside the cage can also help.

Sometimes if you give a chewy stick, such as an N-Bone (they sell them at Petsmarts in a pink package in the ferret section), the ferret will spend about half an hour eating the whole thing, and then go to bed afterward with a full tummy. I do this with some of mine.

Also, making sure that the time spent outside the cage is spent actually playing! Tubes - more than one, are good but running around with the tube incites more playing. Putting crinkly sounding toys inside the tube will also make them dig for them and carry them out. Pulling a sheet on the floor and puffing it up in the air will make them dance around and get tired.

Also they make the non-styrofoam (styrofoam will kill a ferret) packing peanuts, made of starch, that the ferrets can play in. Get a sweater box, fill it up with them, take the lid off for the ferrets and let him get tired playing in that! Some ferrets see laser pointers well, and it's easy to play and tire them out by letting them chase it all over. Just be careful not to get him in the eyes ;)

Those are just a few things you can try. I have only had one ferret out of dozens and dozens that did this even when I tried all of these things, and I ended up just letting him live in the room without being caged until he grew out of it. If you adopted him instead of buying him from a pet shop, he may have grown up without being caged. But it sounds like that is not the case.

Answer 6

put some kind of padding on the sides of the cage, or maybe give him something to chew or play with

Answer 7

shoot him.

bloody ferret.

get a dog.