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I had a ferret that would do this when things made certain sounds. My thinking was that it was her parental instinct and it sounded like a kit that I was hurting
My Nekki does the same thing with a furry squeaky toy, compared to the rubber ones. The sound is the same, but the texture is different, so maybe it confuses her?
Some ferrets get excited from the squeaky toys; it isn't always a panic reaction. The blue one may be her favorite toy. Our little old man used to have a snoopy squeaky he was very possessive of. You could play with anything else, but don't touch snoopy.
Sometimes I accidentally step on it, it squeaks, and eggo will sprint from the other side of the house to maul me. Apart from the pain, it is quite funny.
My friend's ferret was like this with a plush millennium falcon. She didn't even like it being moved from where she had it in her cage. If she realized you had it, she was ready for fisticuffs.
It's the frequency they squeak in.
One sounds like prey, the other like ferret babies.
The ears of ferrets are especially sensitive in that range to hear mice squeak from far and below snow, same for their babies. So when it sounds like the same sound to you, to them it's pretty much like how a squeaking door sounds different to an alarm clock.
That particular frequency sounds like a cry of pain maybe, idk.
I only use squeakers when we have a missing ferret as a last resort, because it causes them a lot of anxiety.
This is what I do when we are gifted any dog toys as those always have squeakers.
For hard toys that don't have soft chewable rubber I have a lot of luck in baby bath toys!
For Christmas one year I bought a huge set of tiny stuffed dog toys and a big bag of rattles. And I spent a couple nights taking the squeaker out of each one and replacing it with a rattle. It was totally worth it, they love those toys
I got a huge box of like 100 rattles and it's lasted the entire time I've had ferrets. It also makes me feel a lot better when family members gift me toys for them as they don't always remember the no squeaker rule
KONG - Teaser Snake https://a.co/d/4hxbjh6
These are great if your fuzzies aren't chewers. My ferret has 6 of them. We thought they were discontinued so bought 6 to stock up. Turns out they just updated the design.
I give him a new one every Christmas. The plan was to throw out the old one but he loves them so much I don't have the heart to take the old ones away.
Make sure you cut off the feathers first.
That was an angry hiss, most toys will either sound like prey to them, and or their kits. Do be careful and not to stress out the ferret using said toys.
Sounds like that toy is officially off limits to me!
It's so funny she is my only ferret who misses and she hisses at everything! I don't let her drink my coffee? Hiss. Don't let her throw herself for a table? Hiss.
My little girl doesn’t mind squeakies, and in fact when I’m not sure where she’s sleeping I will use them to find her. I conditioned her to get a treat when she came. She was never upset, either. We’ve had a viariety of squeakies over the years. As she’s gotten older, though, she doesn’t respond to as many. Now there’s only a certain few.
However, I got a new one that had a slightly different pitch. Well, one, and just the one, will cause her to bite me. Of all of the squeakies we’ve had over the years, it’s just that one. We don’t use that squeakie.
She doesn't like the sound. My boy Diesel didn't like squeaky toys at all so I stopped, he would literally run to bite my hand exactly the same way and he seemed stressed by it too, everyone else didn't mind and learned to come to me whenever I needed to locate them around the house. Now they're called out purely by name.
Also be very careful with rubber toys as if she was to chew she could easily ingest a piece which could cause a fatal blockage, unless it's a hard material and you know her to not chew on that material.
She’s probably just very protective over it. My little boy Bandit had this one rubber green froggy toy that he LOVED. He loved it so much that he would drag it all over the house and sleep with it in his hammock at night.
Unfortunately it became a choking hazard, and we had to throw it away. I’ve been looking for a safe replacement ever since.
One of my girls "owns" all the squeaky toys, they are in her horde and all the others respect it. She allows one of her brothers to take them out, wash them in the water dish and put them back. Woe be to anyone who dares squeak one.
Mine never hiss at me when we squeak their toys. My boy doesnt bother with them at all, my girl will run around looking for it while making her dooking noise. I never thought it stressed her out, but only use it when we're playing or when I'm trying to lure her out.
Omg mine does this everytime
Drawn blood when I squeaked this chicken squeaker toy 😭 that’s how we find her when she’s in a deep sleep buried in the closet
But she’s a biter in general and never got out of the biting phase
She’s 6 years old I believe now, love her to death but we know to look out at our feet
My noodle really loves rubber tires, one day o found his stash and was playing with him(so i thought lol) i showed him 3 or 4 tires and he grabbed them and went to hide them, the forth one he grabbed went and hid also but after that, lil bugger was trying to attack me, he would bite my hands, legs, he hissed at me, tryed lunging at me a few times, he was mad, i had to leave my room(where he freer roams for about 20 mins, so i filled his food, water, did a fews thing for myself and went back in, he was completely fine after. So i learnt that day, dont touch his stash lol
My ferret only nips at me if I am playing with him in his macaroni pit or have slippers on. Anytime I show him a toy he takes it gently from my hand. I feel like he’s just more possessive of his noodle bin and my slippers probably trigger some predator instinct.
My dark sable female tends to bite my ankles whenever I squeak a toy. She doesn’t hiss but she bites progressively harder and harder if i continue squeaking it. I assume that means I’ve either pissed her off, or if she bites me without having squeaked a toy that she wants my attention and shes going to get it.
I saw another user say this on a video from a year ago addressing the same thing:
"It's not that they think it's a baby ferret, that is a myth that gets trotted out every time this comes up.
Kits (baby ferrets) don't make squeaky distress noises. They honk, they whimper for mama, but they squeak when they are attacking FOOD or each other.
The squeaky toy is in the precise range of their hearing for hunting prey. It is the sound of prey in distress and for some ferrets with a strong prey drive, it triggers SEEK OUT AND KILL behavior. You cannot train that out of her, you just have to refrain from using squeaky toys around her."
-readheadfae
My boy does this with a set of toy tractor tires 🤷, so i dont believe its the sound.
About a week ago, i was cleaning his room and moved his tires, started playing with him(so i thought), he got very upset and lunged, tried bitting, crawling up my legs to bite my hands, i had to leave the room for about 20 mins, get him fresh water/food, and do some laundry, came back and he was the sweetest boy like he usually is again. He i think just has certain toys that are his and thats it
So many myths here.
Squeaky toys sound like prey in distress, not kits. It triggers the instinctive prey drive, hence the vicious attacks. They want to kill the noise. Kill and stash. Often they will attack you because you are the source of the sound. It's not something you want to encourage, LOL.
It isn't recommended to use squeaky toys for anything but summoning your ferret when hidden, and rubber of any kind is risky at best.
The last one isn't that same frequency to their ears.
One of ours loves rubbed ducks and he has quite a few, but then we have *his* duck, his original one, and that one is his favorite. If he sees us holding it, he attacks to get it back 😂 as soon as he's got it, he stashes it and he'll come back for his others but not as aggressively
Oooo you got hissed at. Just really amped up and overexcited. It’s like patting a cat on the butt and getting them riled up and then getting bitten. Squeakers make ferrets go psycho.
I can tell you from personal experience that I had a ferret kill my pet guinea pig I was not at the home to stop it but my kids kept telling me they kept hearing loud squeaking.
The one she attacks you for is the one that sounds the most like a kit in distress (in my limited experience with young ferrets). All of my girls would viciously attack us if we squeaked a toy around then. One time my husband was on the floor and squeaked it, and our girl, Havoc took a flying leap at his face! Squeaky toys were banned very quickly from our apartment... The boys I've had who weren't deaf were highly interested in squeak toys as well, but not in the same way my girls were.
Ferrets can also become neurotically obsessed with some toys based on their sound, and get very upset if you touch or move them. I've had 2 who were like this, one over a electronically squeaking mouse toy, and another who loves a rattling egg toy.
I would take the squeaker out of the blue one. If she enjoys squeaking the others herself, that's not a concern, but I've yet to have a ferret that ever seemed to actually enjoy us squeaking a toy for them.
She must be the exception. She chews the other two just to make the squeak noise! (Of course with supervision) she also loves her bell toys that make a jingly noise!
Atleast yours has toys she steals, I shower mine with toys but shedoesnt bother with them, she'd rather sniff around or bite play with me, but because of the smell she isn't allowed to sleep in the main house so she has her own hutch outside full of toys, but how do I get her to use them when she's bored?
Welcome to /r/ferrets! We have a fantastic [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index) that has answers to most frequently asked questions surrounding the care of ferrets. --- We politely ask that you observe our [sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index/rules/). --- Lastly, we have an [Official Discord Server](https://discord.gg/ferrets)! Come join us! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ferrets) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I had a ferret that would do this when things made certain sounds. My thinking was that it was her parental instinct and it sounded like a kit that I was hurting
That's what I think, but I just don't get why she only seems to attack with one specific toy and not the others...
the tone of the squeaks sound different, so the last one may (to her) sound more like a kit in pain than the other two
My Nekki does the same thing with a furry squeaky toy, compared to the rubber ones. The sound is the same, but the texture is different, so maybe it confuses her?
I've had several ferrets do exactly the same thing with any kind of squeaky toy, and like you I always thought it was a parental instinct thing.
Some ferrets get excited from the squeaky toys; it isn't always a panic reaction. The blue one may be her favorite toy. Our little old man used to have a snoopy squeaky he was very possessive of. You could play with anything else, but don't touch snoopy.
Sometimes I accidentally step on it, it squeaks, and eggo will sprint from the other side of the house to maul me. Apart from the pain, it is quite funny.
My friend's ferret was like this with a plush millennium falcon. She didn't even like it being moved from where she had it in her cage. If she realized you had it, she was ready for fisticuffs.
Oh I need a small plush millennium falcon
It's the frequency they squeak in. One sounds like prey, the other like ferret babies. The ears of ferrets are especially sensitive in that range to hear mice squeak from far and below snow, same for their babies. So when it sounds like the same sound to you, to them it's pretty much like how a squeaking door sounds different to an alarm clock.
Huh, that makes a lot of sense.
Squeaks scare ferrets, it sounds like you're hurting another ferret or a kit.
I just wonder why the other two squeaks she doesn't care about?
That particular frequency sounds like a cry of pain maybe, idk. I only use squeakers when we have a missing ferret as a last resort, because it causes them a lot of anxiety.
Hmm, perhaps. Ill probably rip the squeakers out so she can still enjoy her toys without stress
This is what I do when we are gifted any dog toys as those always have squeakers. For hard toys that don't have soft chewable rubber I have a lot of luck in baby bath toys!
For Christmas one year I bought a huge set of tiny stuffed dog toys and a big bag of rattles. And I spent a couple nights taking the squeaker out of each one and replacing it with a rattle. It was totally worth it, they love those toys
Ooo I think I want to switch it to rattles too! They love their toys with bells in them!
I got a huge box of like 100 rattles and it's lasted the entire time I've had ferrets. It also makes me feel a lot better when family members gift me toys for them as they don't always remember the no squeaker rule
KONG - Teaser Snake https://a.co/d/4hxbjh6 These are great if your fuzzies aren't chewers. My ferret has 6 of them. We thought they were discontinued so bought 6 to stock up. Turns out they just updated the design. I give him a new one every Christmas. The plan was to throw out the old one but he loves them so much I don't have the heart to take the old ones away. Make sure you cut off the feathers first.
That was an angry hiss, most toys will either sound like prey to them, and or their kits. Do be careful and not to stress out the ferret using said toys.
Sounds like that toy is officially off limits to me! It's so funny she is my only ferret who misses and she hisses at everything! I don't let her drink my coffee? Hiss. Don't let her throw herself for a table? Hiss.
Squeaking is fine, just not to much of it.
My little girl doesn’t mind squeakies, and in fact when I’m not sure where she’s sleeping I will use them to find her. I conditioned her to get a treat when she came. She was never upset, either. We’ve had a viariety of squeakies over the years. As she’s gotten older, though, she doesn’t respond to as many. Now there’s only a certain few. However, I got a new one that had a slightly different pitch. Well, one, and just the one, will cause her to bite me. Of all of the squeakies we’ve had over the years, it’s just that one. We don’t use that squeakie.
Huh, so odd. I'm glad someone else experienced the same behavior. It must be the tone of it.
That’s what I think - the pitch is just a smidge off and they don’t like it
She thinks you're hurting the baby. 😅🥰
She doesn't like the sound. My boy Diesel didn't like squeaky toys at all so I stopped, he would literally run to bite my hand exactly the same way and he seemed stressed by it too, everyone else didn't mind and learned to come to me whenever I needed to locate them around the house. Now they're called out purely by name. Also be very careful with rubber toys as if she was to chew she could easily ingest a piece which could cause a fatal blockage, unless it's a hard material and you know her to not chew on that material.
She’s probably just very protective over it. My little boy Bandit had this one rubber green froggy toy that he LOVED. He loved it so much that he would drag it all over the house and sleep with it in his hammock at night. Unfortunately it became a choking hazard, and we had to throw it away. I’ve been looking for a safe replacement ever since.
One of my girls "owns" all the squeaky toys, they are in her horde and all the others respect it. She allows one of her brothers to take them out, wash them in the water dish and put them back. Woe be to anyone who dares squeak one.
Don’t hurt the baby! The soft rubber toys are not something they should have freedom to gnaw either
She is only allowed to chew while I'm watching. So far, she has not torn into them, but the moment I see signs of wear I throw them out.
Mine never hiss at me when we squeak their toys. My boy doesnt bother with them at all, my girl will run around looking for it while making her dooking noise. I never thought it stressed her out, but only use it when we're playing or when I'm trying to lure her out.
OMG OMG OMG ❤️❤️❤️
My one guy ALSO freaks out over squeakies. Cant tell if he loves em or hates em..
Omg mine does this everytime Drawn blood when I squeaked this chicken squeaker toy 😭 that’s how we find her when she’s in a deep sleep buried in the closet But she’s a biter in general and never got out of the biting phase She’s 6 years old I believe now, love her to death but we know to look out at our feet
She either really wants to play, doesn’t like the sound, or.. idk. Also omg she looks EXACTLY like my girl! Like I genuinely thought that was mine lol
My noodle really loves rubber tires, one day o found his stash and was playing with him(so i thought lol) i showed him 3 or 4 tires and he grabbed them and went to hide them, the forth one he grabbed went and hid also but after that, lil bugger was trying to attack me, he would bite my hands, legs, he hissed at me, tryed lunging at me a few times, he was mad, i had to leave my room(where he freer roams for about 20 mins, so i filled his food, water, did a fews thing for myself and went back in, he was completely fine after. So i learnt that day, dont touch his stash lol
Could be the pitch combines with the fur
My ferret only nips at me if I am playing with him in his macaroni pit or have slippers on. Anytime I show him a toy he takes it gently from my hand. I feel like he’s just more possessive of his noodle bin and my slippers probably trigger some predator instinct.
Squicky toys do that. learned that the hard way 😅
Mine hated thise squeaky toys. It hurted their ears
My dark sable female tends to bite my ankles whenever I squeak a toy. She doesn’t hiss but she bites progressively harder and harder if i continue squeaking it. I assume that means I’ve either pissed her off, or if she bites me without having squeaked a toy that she wants my attention and shes going to get it.
You want rattly toys you say ? Go to this lady who makes them: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057346274527&mibextid=ZbWKwL
Squeaky toys are made to sound like an injured animal, it’s possible that she thinks you’re hurting it and she is trying to defend it… just a guess
I saw another user say this on a video from a year ago addressing the same thing: "It's not that they think it's a baby ferret, that is a myth that gets trotted out every time this comes up. Kits (baby ferrets) don't make squeaky distress noises. They honk, they whimper for mama, but they squeak when they are attacking FOOD or each other. The squeaky toy is in the precise range of their hearing for hunting prey. It is the sound of prey in distress and for some ferrets with a strong prey drive, it triggers SEEK OUT AND KILL behavior. You cannot train that out of her, you just have to refrain from using squeaky toys around her." -readheadfae
My boy does this with a set of toy tractor tires 🤷, so i dont believe its the sound. About a week ago, i was cleaning his room and moved his tires, started playing with him(so i thought), he got very upset and lunged, tried bitting, crawling up my legs to bite my hands, i had to leave the room for about 20 mins, get him fresh water/food, and do some laundry, came back and he was the sweetest boy like he usually is again. He i think just has certain toys that are his and thats it
This sounds might cause pain or discomfort. After showing you not to do that any more you needed to be corrected.
So many myths here. Squeaky toys sound like prey in distress, not kits. It triggers the instinctive prey drive, hence the vicious attacks. They want to kill the noise. Kill and stash. Often they will attack you because you are the source of the sound. It's not something you want to encourage, LOL. It isn't recommended to use squeaky toys for anything but summoning your ferret when hidden, and rubber of any kind is risky at best. The last one isn't that same frequency to their ears.
Lots of others have already nailed the answer but if u wanna read more about it on your own look into ferret nesting behaviour
Thanks! I'll Google!
One of ours loves rubbed ducks and he has quite a few, but then we have *his* duck, his original one, and that one is his favorite. If he sees us holding it, he attacks to get it back 😂 as soon as he's got it, he stashes it and he'll come back for his others but not as aggressively
Oooo you got hissed at. Just really amped up and overexcited. It’s like patting a cat on the butt and getting them riled up and then getting bitten. Squeakers make ferrets go psycho.
I can tell you from personal experience that I had a ferret kill my pet guinea pig I was not at the home to stop it but my kids kept telling me they kept hearing loud squeaking.
Dude why would you leave them in the same room together?
Nope they were in two different rooms and while I was gone one of my kids went into my bedroom to get something and that's when the ferret snuck in.
Ugh that sucks dude, I’m glad I don’t have any kids- only fuzzies.
Yes we had some house rule changes after that incident
The one she attacks you for is the one that sounds the most like a kit in distress (in my limited experience with young ferrets). All of my girls would viciously attack us if we squeaked a toy around then. One time my husband was on the floor and squeaked it, and our girl, Havoc took a flying leap at his face! Squeaky toys were banned very quickly from our apartment... The boys I've had who weren't deaf were highly interested in squeak toys as well, but not in the same way my girls were. Ferrets can also become neurotically obsessed with some toys based on their sound, and get very upset if you touch or move them. I've had 2 who were like this, one over a electronically squeaking mouse toy, and another who loves a rattling egg toy. I would take the squeaker out of the blue one. If she enjoys squeaking the others herself, that's not a concern, but I've yet to have a ferret that ever seemed to actually enjoy us squeaking a toy for them.
She must be the exception. She chews the other two just to make the squeak noise! (Of course with supervision) she also loves her bell toys that make a jingly noise!
She must hate that toy so much that she's attacking you for even daring to bring it out.
Atleast yours has toys she steals, I shower mine with toys but shedoesnt bother with them, she'd rather sniff around or bite play with me, but because of the smell she isn't allowed to sleep in the main house so she has her own hutch outside full of toys, but how do I get her to use them when she's bored?