Hello everyone,
 
Sorry about the length of this but I am quite worried about my Ferret
 
I have had my Furball (his name is Sigmund) for about two months.  He was
about 5 months old when we got him at a pet store.  As of now we are still
having some problems with Siggi occasionally biting for no reason.  As a
result we still can not let him run around the house when not on a leash.
He gets far too aggressive when you try to pick him up again.
 
The funny thing is that if a person handles and holds him, he is the
sweetest little furball, but once or twice he has turned around and started
biting horribly.  To the point that blood was drawn and stiches were in
order.  We have done all of the things that the books seem to recommend, (ie
picking them up by the scruff and giving them a stern no) or even to flick
him on the nose and put him straight back in his cage, and that has seemed
to help the biting for no reason.  But we still have problems tracking him
down when we want to put him back in the cage.  He gets very bittie and
aggressive.  The store where we got him doesn't seem to have a clue about
even what a Ferret is (besides the fact that its a small Fuzzy they sell) so
they haven't been too much help.
 
The only thing that has been mentioned to me is by another happy Ferret
owner.  She said for me to get a second fuzzy.  (From a shelter maybe ?  )
She said that her fuzzy was relatively miserable when he was alone for six
months.  She said that he perked up ten times over when he had a friend to
play with and disobey her with :)
 
I am asking the list because I thought that I could get some good advice on
what I should do.  I love my Sigmund tremendously and I think he is the
best, but his biting has got to stop.  I would appreciate any input people
could give me on this via E-mail.  Also if anyone knows of a shelter in the
Eastern Ontario region, (I live in Ottawa, Ontario) or even in the Thousand
Island area of New York I would much rather get a fuzzy that needs a home
from a shelter.  Sigmund sends his warmest sniffings to all of us out there
in the Ferret community.
 
Frederico Baumhardt
and Sigmund Von Poop-a-lot
[Posted in FML issue 1699]