GRRRR!!! Trouble With Loki

[airy]

Went to get in the shower today and I hear scratching under the tub, I automatically knew, I was able to account for Eris and Pandora so it was Loki. We had switched over from Rogers to Belle and they had cut a small hole behind the TV stand in the bedroom, so I automatically knew how he got under there, I went in my bedroom and sure as can be there he was in that hole, but what was agitating was that I swear he was taunting me, i couldn't reach behind the TV stand because it was so close to the wall and he kept poking his head out at me and running back in, I sat there for a long time trying to coax him out with treats and everything else but nothing would work, then he disappears completely so I go in the bathroom searching for scratching under the tub again, there was no scratching under the tub but I could hear it in the wall, fearing him getting lost and not being able to find his way out, I had cut a huge hole in the bathroom wall, then he suddenly disappears to another area where I could hear him scratching, Again I cut another huge gaping hole into the wall and I shine my flashlight in there but could not see him but could hear that he was close by, I kept begging him to come out, shook his food bag and and he did eventually come to that hole to take a peek at me but to my luck he ran back in. I then say "Loki..stand pretty" This is what i say before he gets his treat and he does this on command so right then and there he comes out, I swoop him up before he can get a chance to run back in there and put him in the cage, now I have to go to Canadian Tire or somewhere to buy supplies to fix those holes..the sad thing is that I just had to knock the tiles off the wall for one of the holes and probably wont be able to find the matching tiles either. The best part is that I got him back, I thought I was going to lose him for good. As pissed off as I am at myself for leaving the bedroom door open so he could get himself into that situation, words cannot express how happy I am to have him back. Yup, quite a day I had with him.

[Tressie]

Welcome to the heart-stopping world of fuzzkids!

Thankfully you got him out - the damage to the walls is a small price to pay. I am VERY impressed that your priority was your fuzzy and not the walls.

Its experiences like these that teach us what these fuzzkids are capable of. I've had my share I can assure you.

Never underestimate what a ferret can get into. When you think you are completely ferret-proofed along comes a ferret to prove you wrong. Just because every single ferret you've had in the past has not done something doesn't mean the next one won't.

Some examples I have encountered that one ferret will do when no one before him/her has (exception is the playpen - 3 managed to find a way out of it):

- squeeze into a tiny window opening (Beatrice)
- rip through a pet proof screen door to the outside (Tiramisu)
- get into my ferret proof couch (Pellegrina)
- eat the fringes off carpets (Bellissima)
- chew on a sweater (Tortellini)
- chew on electrical cords (Sampson)
- jump the baby gate (Dolcezze)
- get out of playpen (Dolcezze, Pellegrina and Donnola) - each had their own strategy - Dolcezze jumped out; Pellegrina jumped off the nest box, hooked her nails in the top panel border and climbed out; Donnola opened the panels by pushing up on them with her nose. I know how they did it because once out - I put them back in and watch how they get out.

Problem solving is exceptional in ferrets. They will work at something persistently until they find a way to achieve their goal.

Thanks for sharing your experience - its a learning lesson for all of us.

Tressie

[airy]

My problem is that I am renting my home, I do not own, so I better get that fixed up fast ASAP, right now I got it boarded up because I guess the holes are too big to use crackfill. My landlord don't mind me having ferrets and if he knew of this I am sure he would order me to get rid of them or move. I have a lot of work cut out for me with those walls now, Im probably gonna have to hire a professional to fix it because its quite a mess , but as I was telling a friend when I related that story to her last night, I would of busted down every wall in the house just to get him out, Im sure she thinks I was joking but I was dead serious. As every ferret owner knows, they are perpetually in their terrible twos so I am sure this wont be the last bit of drama/stress he causes me lol

The electrical chord chewing you mention scares me, we found some chewed, My husband got angry and started bitching about the ferrets..I actually deny it and blame the guinea pig knowing it was impossible that the guinea pig to do that just to take the heat off the ferrets, lol, I know Im horrible, anyways I went out and bought that Time Out Spray and sprayed down all the wires, they haven't chewed one since.

I never seen my ferrets eat the fringes of the carpet yet but loki has a terrible habit of digging the carpet at my bedroom door since he is nolonger allowed back in there, I sprayed the time out spray there but it does not repel him from the digging, just spraying the wires I could taste it and it was horrible, I don't know how he cant get a whiff of it when he digs away there.

Hahaha!! Eris can also get in my "ferret proof" couch, I had no idea she was doing it until one day I was just sitting there and I could hear and feel the digging behind me, a few minutes later she emerged from behind the cushion.

Loki can actually get into my fridge, There were a few times I found him in there when I would open the door, Once he was inside a giant bowl of rice pudding and covered in it. I bitched out everyone in the house thinking that someone carelessly let him in when they had the door open not paying attention and closed the door with him in there, then a little while back I watched him use his body to maneuver the fridge door open, so he was actually getting in there on his own!! Now I have to keep a lock thing on my fridge like I used to when my kids were toddlers.

Today I watched Pan Pan(Pandora) crawl right inside the rug cleaner, I swear it is one thing after another with those three amigos.

[mindy]

wow! that is scary! i would have ripped out all the walls to get my ferret out too. you must have been so scared. i am glad that he came out and is safe and sound now.

my ferret proofing so far:

i bought peg board from the hardware store and screwed it to the bottom of my couch. there is no way someone is getting up there! fred tries all the time unless he can figure out how to work a screwdriver he is not getting in!

fawkes was my wire chewer. i put hot sauce on the wires and he stopped that. we also put plastic hardware clothe across the back of our tv stand so the ferrets couldn't get at the wires or power bars.

i have not had anyone escape yet, thank goodness. when we move into the house next week and the ferrets get their own room i hope that the no escapees record keeps up! i am going to do everything in my power to make sure it stays that way

[jenclarke23]

That's great that you managed to get Loki out safe and sound. We've had to be really careful with keeping our ferrets confined to the one room unless we're both around to supervise them outside in the main floor of the house. So far we've made a 'collar' type thing for the fridge so they can't get behind it to the heating coils. The cupboard doors all have security locks on them so they're not playing in the pots and pans. The couch is still being dealt with as they've just recently dug through the heavy duty cloth I had stapled to the bottom of it. Hmmm....what else....haven't had any trouble with wires yet (crosses fingers) but we've had to put all the big planters up on milk crates so they couldn't climb up and start digging.

Even when they're in their ferret proofed room they still get into trouble. They climb to the top of the ferret nation cage (I don't know how since the bars are vertical and Cujo (the one who does it the most) is soooo tiny. Then she can't get down and ends up making these pityful mewling like noises.

The biggest scare I've ever had was the other day trying to round up all the ferrets to put them to bed and I couldn't find delilah. She's quick and I had this horrible Idea that she'd gotten out of her room and found her way outside somehow. I searched the entire room from top to bottom and was near tears when I found her sleeping in a bag of cloth scraps in the otherwise empty closet that was hanging about 6 feet off the ground. I have no idea how she got there...to this day. The only thing I can think of is if my partner moved the cage while he was cleaning the room and she got in from the top of the cage. My partner says he doesn't think he did and it was a few hours between cleaning the room and em putting them to bed...it will remain a mystery I guess. So no real escapes yet but some terrifying moments nonetheless.

[airy]

I swear every single day I am giving them more limits because they are always discovering how to do more things that they should not be doing. Last night Pandora was on top of the Guinea Pig cage..The cage is kept up high just because of the ferrets. My guess is that she climbed up the arm chair and too a leap..that leap would have to be four feet so that is quite a leap for her, I know have some twist ties that I am using as a makeshift lock, because after finding Pan pan up there I am not taking any chances.

Mindy what do you mean about a peg board?? I think I want to go out and get one now too, I keep thinking, if there is a fire or something and i need to get the ferrets out really fast, It is gonna be a real chore to get them out from inside that couch so fast.

Jen, that is crazy that Delilah was able to get up there. I bet you will never find out how she did it either, ferrets are really good at keeping their little secrets I have noticed. Im just really happy that you were able to find her safe and sound

[mindy]

peg board is the stuff that people use in garages and places like that to hang stuff on. i think they also use it in stores, where the metal hooks stick in little holes.

this is what it looks like:

www.lehighgroup.com/images/pegboard.gif

i think we got ours at home depot but i am pretty sure kents or even canadian tire will have it too. i like that there are holes in it because the air can still pass through.

[Tressie]

If the ferrets are getting in from the bottom of the couch another option is to take the feet off the couch so it sits flat on the floor, which is what I did.

Pellegrina is the only one who has managed to get into the couch and she did it because she is so tiny. She squeezed into the teeny opening in the side of the couch behind the cushions. I could barely fit my fingers into that opening because the frame is right there. I had to cut through 3 layers of lining to get her out.

I have another small ferret who used to climb up the Ferret Nation cage when it was close to the wall. I watched how she did it and she used the wall to support her back while she hoisted herself up. Solution push the cage until its flat against the wall or move it far enough from the wall that there's no wall supporting her.

Dolcezze is quite long for a ferret and I watched him bounce a couple of times and bound out over the top of the playpen, which is 29" high!

I have a friend whose ferret went missing after they decorated the Xmas tree. They found her curled up sound asleep in one of the ornament boxes, which had already been packed away in the attic.

By the way speaking of Xmas trees - putting playpen panels around the Xmas tree like a fence will keep them away from the tree, that is, unless you happen to be Dolcezze. Hence I no longer put up a Xmas tree.

Here is a link to some dangers to ferrets people don't commonly think of:

www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferret_school/ferretschool_danger.html

Tressie