Jen
 
Re: Your question on nipping.
 
Remember that Pandie is just a young kit - similar to a young puppy or
kitten.  The nipping that you describe sounds like normal play behavior.
It's just that Pandie doesn't know that your skin is much more tender than
that of the kits she is used to playing with.
 
Although nose thumping and confinement works in some situations, we've found
that unless you are very careful in using that form of discipline, you can
easily train a ferret to fear you, which makes the situation far worse for
everyone, including the ferret.
 
Spraying Bitter Apple (you can find it in most pet stores) on your hands,
then offering it to the ferret often works.  It teaches them that your hand
does not taste very good.  The other approach is to immediately scruff the
ferret; hold it so that her back is resting against your forearm; shake the
ferret back and forth (not so as to cause injury); and yell a loud "NO!!!"
several times in her face.  The major action after that is to show her that
you DO still love her, so hold her, stroke her, talk gently to her for
several minutes, before you let her down to play.  Then try to repeat the
situation in which you were nipped to see if she'll do it again.  If she
does, repeat it.  Be consistent, be firm, but do it such that she doesn't
learn to fear you.
 
As for the lab, this is something I don't have personal experience with.
From what I've been told from people who have done it is: supervise,
supervise, supervise.  It usually isn't a problem, but it varies with the
personalities of the ferrets and dogs involved.  You might try holding the
ferret and letting the dog sniff the ferret; then letting the ferret sniff
the dog.  If the dog gets too carried away, discipline the dog.  Be careful
that the ferret doesn't latch onto the dog's nose during the sniffing
process.  Good luck.
 
Tryntje,
Cage cleaning. Yes, Lysol is a NO, NO.  We use a water/bleach/dish-soap
solution; rinse well, then air dry completely.
 
Christmas stories.
We used to have a small tree that we kept in the entryway; the "family tree"
was kept in our home's FFZ.  The ferrets loved the entryway tree.  We found
one of our biggest males near the tree with his mouth flashing.  He had
grabbed one of the minature blinking lights (low voltage fortunately), and
was trying to use it to drag the entire tree to his hidy-hole for safe
keeping.  Many a time we walked by the tree to find one of the critters
looking at us eye to eye from their perch high up in the branches.  We gave
up on the entryway tree last year.
 
Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 1384]