I just joined this list last week and it is a fantastic list.  The
suggestions and comments are so great!  My heart goes out to everyone
who has lost a ferret and God bless all of you who shelter ferrets.
And I hope the family hurt in the car accident get better soon.
 
A little background 1st then my question.  I bought my 1st ferret, Sammy,
May 2004.  I bought my 2nd boy, Teddy, in June.  These 2 ferrets love
each other but play really really rough.  There is always crying and
yelling but they keep going back for more.  They jump on each others
back, grab each other by the neck and shake, they sneak up on each other
and roll the other one on their back while tackling each other.  They
bite each other on the belly and butt.  When I think its getting too
rough I separate them and tell then no biting to try and calm them down.
If I pick either one of them up to separate them the other one jumps on
my leg and bites me.  Usually its a hard bite, not enough to break skin,
but it sure does hurt!  I always tell them no when they do that but they
get so crazy playing they think I am one of them.  Of course, I went back
to the pet store over 1 week ago (its actually not a bad pet store) and
Teddy's real brother was still in the cage and hadn't been sold yet.  He
was chubby and wanted love so bad how could I leave him all alone.  So
naturally I bought him and took him home.  Casper is so sweet and
loveable!  Unfortunately, my 2 other boys play just as rough with him and
he squeals like a piggy!  He can hold his own now but he seems to be
picking up the other boys bad habits of nipping.  Teddy has become the
dominant one.  He jumps on Casper and rolls him while Casper squeals and
bites him back.  I always separate them when it gets really rough but for
the 1st time last night Casper nipped me when I separated them.  Last
night Teddy was jumping on him, rolling him, and dragging him while
Casper squealed!  I separated them and told them no biting and Casper
wanted to go back to playing and he bit me hard on the hand!  I actually
have a mark on my hand from his bite.  I also separated Teddy last night
too and he bit me on my eye brow.  Last night after that I decided I had
had enough so I decided that if they nipped me they would have to go into
their little carrier and have a time out.  I did that about 10 times last
night between the 3 of them and I kept telling them no biting loudly
while looking them right in the eye.  My boys are out of their cage at
least 6 hours every day so its not like they are wild because they are
caged so much.  As a matter of fact I just bought a 5 foot high cage with
3 levels for when they are in their cage to eat and sleep.  Does anyone
else have any suggestions?  I know they aren't nipping me to hurt me,
they are rough playing, but they are being really wild and I think
playing too hard.  They love each other very much because when I come
down stairs in the morning they are all piled up in their big hammock
sleeping together.  I really love them and would have 20 if I felt I
could give them all enough attention.  Any help would be really
appreciated.
 
Thanks.
Lisa
[Posted in FML issue 4582]