>From:    Rochelle Newman <[log in to unmask]>
>...The pet store ferret business has really taken off.... I fear the large
>number of ferrets being abandoned this year is the beginning of what may
>end resulting in a shelter crisis...
 
I think you are probably right, sadly this may be our future.  I see ads
continually lately from commercial breeders and MF promising no shortages
this Christmas as they are already increasing production to meet holiday
demands.
 
Mary asked:
>Troy Lynn and Trish - what do your hands look like:)?
 
Well, speaking for myself, probably not as bad as you would think.  Usually,
if I have scratches and such on my hands it is from injuring myself on a
cage, or from one of my cats accidentally holding on too tight while I am
putting them outside.  Biting ferrets are actually rare unless the ferret is
improperly handled.  Even in working with biters, the bites don't usually
break the skin.
 
I was bitten pretty severely a couple of weeks ago, but the wound has
finally healed completely.  The ferret who bit me, Columbus, is a recent
arrival and would only bite when held a certain way or scruffed (though it
took me some time to make this connection).  I was by myself when he bit my
hand and **would not** let go, first I scruffed him and said "no" sternly,
then I blew in his face, all this just made him bite harder, he was hissing
at me the whole time as well.  So I put him gently on the bed, with my right
hand still in his mouth and blood everywhere, and I used the thumb and index
finger of my left hand to pry his jaws apart and extract my right hand.  He
was very stressed and upset by this time.  I gently placed him in his cage
so he could settle down and I cleaned and bandaged my hand.  A little later
I took him out of his cage, without scruffing him, and I cuddled him, he was
fine then.  Upon further questioning of the previous owner it was discovered
that he had had a couple injuried in the 3 years they had had him.  So
Columbus went to the vet for x-rays as I thought his biting might be in
response to pain.  Though there is no skeletal damage, he does have an odd
gait (seems his rear left leg is 'slow') and the vet is certain that there
is spinal cord damage that is causing some pain, and will likely be with him
the rest of his life.
 
The most important thing to remember here is that this ferret bit because he
was in pain.  They always have a reason, we just have to be smart enough to
figure out what that reason is.
 
Kisses to all the fuzzies.
Trish
Director, Ferrets First Rescue & Shelter
[Posted in FML issue 1757]