Hello Out there,
        I have recently purchased a six week old ferret (now seven weeks) and
there are a couple of questions I have to ask.
        She has taken to clawing at the furnature when she is playing.
Is there any way to get her to stop, or is this common ferret behavior
and is some thing that really cannot be changed?  Also, she has no
interest in ferretone and I am curious about this.  It is hard to give
her positive reenforcement for good behavior when the "reward" is
nothing special to her.  Does this have something to do with her age, or
will she never be interested in ferretone?
        Let me say that she is the cutest, most affectionate pet I have
had and she is worth any trouble that she gets her self into.  She has
been so much fun in just the week I have had her.  I look foreward to
learning more about ferrets in general and about my carpet shark in
particular.  I even think that once I feel comfortable with caring for
ferrets I may get her a companion.
        A final questions.  What is a suitable form of disipline for
nipping too hard during play and other forms of misbehavior (I have read
the FAQ and am curious about other forms of disipline).  The nose flicking
thing sounds good, but I don't want to do it so often that she won't like
me anymore.
        I hope that the questions I have asked have been legitamate ones for
the forum.  By the way the name of my ferret is Rikki (after the
literary character Rikki Tikki Tavy).  I am not firm on this name yet,
especially since I noticed someone on the FML has named their ferret
that too.  I can't think of any others, though.  Well, I'll make up my
mind soon.  Thanks for the help.
 
                                                        Ken Coon -
                                                        Clueless Ferret
                                                        Owner
[Posted in FML issue 1107]