Biting ferret help please

[dicky das 4]

im in the same boat iv just been given a black eyed white hob i have had him in my two tear hutch with my two jills and since i got him when im handlein him he's took a likeing to my fingers so i had a spear cage that i use for putting the ferrets when cleaning out so he' gone in there on his own started handlein 3-4 times a day and for the past couple of days he seems to be alot better

[Kay 3,709]

My first ferret i ever owned i aquirred from a friend he kept them in a large court which i later called "animal auchwitz" due to the conditions these dozen or so ferts were kept this large poley hob was very aggresive which to me was normal for ferts or so i thought as a teenager.After a couple of weeks of being well fed,clean living conditions & lots of handling with gloved hands he became very tame.In my opinion nose flicking,head slapping,knuckle gagging,etc should really be unecessary unless the animal is beyond taming which is possibly very rare?? But that is just my opinion

 

I agree totally well said

 

I was asked by a neighbours daughter if i would take a ferret a few weeks back , the silly woman did the nose slapping thing every time the ferrret bit , so the ferret just bit harder next time.

 

I always try to look into why they bite , whats wrong, why have they previously not bitten but now do, i suspect this kit was made worse because she does not enjoy other ferret company, i tried her in with my old jill who is very docile & the kit ran round the large pen like a chipmonk jumping from one side to the other screetching, as she was in other ferret company at her previous home & the noise she made was the same as the woman described , so i put a lot of her problems down to fear.

[ianrob 2]

Hi folks, I bought 2 new ferrets on the 5th of this month from different owners. 1 of them is happy living ( i hope) with the other 4 but the other 1 would not come out of the nest box. She would live in there! I took her out & put her in her own hutch as fights were going on. Even though now she looks clean & eats & poo ok now i cant touch her. She tries to bite me if i pick her up from the front. To pick her up i have to do it from behind her head! My other ferrets i can pick up & play with & do what i like really but this one wont have a bar of it. Im embarresed to say im abit afraid of her now. In all my years of keeping ferrets ive never been bitten but ive always raised mine from 12 wks old. She seems to me to be very anti social so can any one offer any help please.

Many thanks

andy

Personally, I'd definitely go for the kindness thing rather than any punishment. Be kind and behave and talk gently and be consistent. Reward good behaviour. A word also about the breeding, I was once given a jill, and she was fine, but was so flighty, she could turn in a flash. She never really locked on to me, but drew blood a few times. It was in breeding, as I met a friend of the original owner, and was informed that several of his ferrets were biters, and were best tailed. I wouldn't bother with a biter now, but as its young, it's well worth giving her time to settle and come good.

All me ferrets play bite, by the way, and that can be harder than I like, but my screams usually shocks them into looking at me like I'm a whimp.

[Scuzy 1]

i put vinegar on my fingers they get a taste of that and thats it!

[danielt 1]

i put vinegar on my fingers they get a taste of that and thats it!

 

Just what i was going to say, i did itt once or twice and they didnt even try to bite, this was when i had my ferts for the the first few days.