I tried to send this private email but it bounced--
Jean and Barbara-- my young female ferret Amelia went through the same kind
of phase that you describe for Cashew, and yes, it is a phase which she will
outgrow with patience on your part.  She was nippy from the time we got her
at age 7 weeks (from a pet shop supplied by Hagen, a large breeding and pet
supply operation, so perhaps she hadn't had much human interaction
previously), and stayed pretty fierce until about age 5 1/2 months.  She
still uses her teeth a lot in play, but usually has herself under control.  I
haven't found that one method of discipline worked particularly better than
any of the others, but leaving her in her cage until she had calmed down
(sometimes up to 20 min or a half hour) helped preserve our sanity when she
was acting like the Tasmanian Devil on speed.
   It occurs to me that perhaps this could be an important difference between
"farm" ferrets and ferrets raised by small-scale breeders-- early behavior
and learning about humans.  Amelia is a very loving ferret now, but the first
few months were turbulent, and I still can only trust her with children that
I trust not to yelp about getting bit.  Pet peeve: parents in the park who
call their children over to see the cute animal before asking cute animal's
owner if it's ok.  At least they aren't scared of ferrets, but I still think
you should ask an animal's owner first before mobbing it.  But given the
general trend of Amelia's growth, I think she'll be fine with most people in
a few more months or a year.  So I hope this helps-- I remember reading in
Chuck and Fox Marton's book that young ferrets have 'those turbulent
adolescent months', and gosh, I guess they meant it.  But like teenagers,
they can grow out of it.
 
Regina and Amelia (I'll still bite your ankles when you take me out of
the trash, so watch out!)
[Posted in FML issue 1163]