hi all,
 
this is my first posting, although i have enjoyed reading the fml for some
time.  my name is una, and i live in bergen, norway.  currently i have one
ferret, a very sweet girl called bella.  at least i think her sweet.  she
was given to me some months ago, by an animal care service.  she was found
walking the streets, and was about to be put down because she was a bad
biter.  i really wanted to give her a try since i was "between ferrets",
and i didn't want her to be put down for beeing agressive.
 
the first weeks were very tough, my hands were constantly full of bitemarks
and scratches.  however it didn't take me long to realise that she was ill.
the vet operated on her, and removed a urinestone exactly the size of her
bladder.  so i started hoping that when she recovered from the operation
she would turn into a sweet non-biting ferret.  and she did, she stopped
biting me..............
 
unfortunately she will still bite big chunks out of any other person that
happens to be near her.  is there any way i can get her to stop biting
strangers?  will she always be insecure, or is this something that will
pass?  i feel that i have won a big battle in getting her to stop biting
me, and maybe i should be pleased with that.  but it would be nice to be
able to let her out of her room when there are other people in the
apartment.
 
an other thing is that she seems very anti-social when she is in contact
with other ferrets, sometimes she hides, but most of the time she just
isn't very interested.  i want to get another ferret, but i am afraid that
poor bella will get very stressed and troubled.  will it sort itself out?
or should she be a lone ferret?
 
i will be very grateful for any advice.
 
una&bella
[Posted in FML issue 3010]