How To Train Your Ferret

Ferrets are intelligent, adorable, clever and inquisitive animals; they have an amazing capacity to learn and can be trained with persistence to do certain tricks and tasks. You need to praise and give your pet ferret some treats to encourage your furry friends to perform and win over their hearts.

You could train your ferret to not bite:

Your ferret could nip other ferrets and human beings playfully, but it hurts. Punishing the ferret with a tap or water sprays on the nose or by hitting or throwing them would not help as it would increase this behavior of fear biting. Time out is a gentle form of punishment, physical punishment only teaching the ferret in the long run that aggression is appropriate.

Toilet training your ferret:

 
You could do it with patience and perseverance; shower your ferret with lots of praise, affection and treats when he does the right thing. If your ferret takes a tinkle anywhere else except the litter box, it would help to spray some Apple Bitter or lemon juice at this point; ferrets hate the smell and would avoid doing their business there.

Make sure you clean and change the litter box completely once or twice a week and the bedding is cleaned daily. It would help to place one of his droppings into his designated spot or litter box to indicate where he should do his doings. Your ferret will be toilet trained in a week to 15 days.

Ferrets can be taught to shake paws:

First make sure you have some treats on your hand and out it in front of your ferret so he notices it. You could arouse the curiosity of your ferret by placing the treat about an inch further than your hand on a flat surface. The pet ferret would step onto your hand with one paw; then give him the treat and shake his paw.

Train your pet ferret to sit:

This is a little difficult trick and requires a few weeks to train; train him gradually and be sure to reward his persistence with a treat or cuddling each time. Start with first holding a treat directly over the pet’s head, then lowering it slightly afterwards still keeping it out of reach of the ferret.  As he lowers his bottom slowly and clearly command him to sit; repeat the word “Sit” until the ferret understands it. Continue practicing, but do not miss rewarding him.

Train your pet ferret to keep rolling:

Teach this trick to your ferret when it is lying on the back. Show the curious pet a treat you have in your hand and slowly move it on one side of its head. Bring the treat around the back of his head, keep moving it until he has to move his head to get the treat and he rolls. Praise and reward the pet ferret a treat.

Finally having a ferret as a pet is real fun, with these clever pets making your family adore them for the neat tricks; however remember not to leave anything valuable around as these furry bandits may pick your pocket.   

Image Courtesy: Google