Scott Johnson
02/25/97 05:39 PM
 
Hi all. This is my first mail here, so please bear with me:
 
I just received a 6 week old ferret a few days ago.  She's a cutie!  But
aside from being scared sometimes when I move too quick, she's basically
good natured and extremely curious.  And yes, I have read the Ferret FAQ -
its wonderfully informative.
 
But my kit has a problem - she bites my fingers!  I've tried 'tapping on her
nose' technique when she bites down hard, but I really don't want to use
physical means.  So now I'll grab her by the scruff of her neck and say
"NO".  Then I'll put her back down and she'll go immediately for my fingers
and bite down all the harder.  I can't tell if she is playing around or if
she's an evil seed.
 
However, I experimented last night - I let her sniff my fingers, and sure
enough, chomp.  (No blood drawn).  So once again I yelled at her.  But this
time, after I put her back down, I made a fist, hiding my finger tips.  She
went nuts trying to dig her nose into my hand and tried to open my fist with
her paws.  Could she think its some kind of game?  If so, how do I teach her
that its not a nice game to play?  Is there where I should break out the
Granny's Sour Apple stuff?  (The stuff you put on kids fingers so they don't
suck their thumbs?)
 
Please help!   I really want her to like me ... and not bite anybody...
Scott
[Posted in FML issue 1855]