> ... He always starts off by talking for a bit, then licking a few
>times, then a gentle nibble, then a full-on bite (well, not quite enough
>to break the skin, but definitely enough to hurt).  I'm the only person
>he does it to; he's very sweet to everybody else.  I wondered if he
>just doesn't like me, but he seems eager to be in my company - he
>deliberately comes to find me, and will wait around beneath me until I
>give him some attention (or a finger or toe).
 
He loves you....
Seriously, this is the lick-lick-bite that everyone talks about.  In my
experience, the person chosen for this attention is the ferret's favorite
person.  I think what he's doing is fairly normal grooming to another
ferret.
 
My Frankie used to do this, and "No bite!' had no effect that I could
see.  Then one day he sneaked up on me -- I thought it was Sam nuzzling
me, who would never bite -- so when the bite came I was totally
unprepared and yelled "AAAGH!"  Frankie skittered back, scared, and I
picked him up and kissed him so he wouldn't be frightened.  So then,
next time he tried the lick-lick-bite, I saw that he was watching me, so
this time I deliberately yelled when he started to bite.  So he didn't
actually bite.  After that, he would look at me when he started to lick,
as if to see if he should continue to the bite phase, and now when I said
'no' he seemed to understand what I was objecting to.  I just don't think
he realized before that it hurt and I wasn't taking it as either grooming
or as an invitation to play, which is what I see happen when a ferret
does it to another ferret.  Today, Frankie is the sweetest and most
people-oriented ferret you can imagine.
 
Hope this helps.
--Claire
 
On Dec 11, 2004, at 5:00 AM, Fox Lee wrote:
[Posted in FML issue 4724]