I've got a biting problem.  I've got 2 ferrets I got when they were 1.5
years old, about a year ago.  My male has always nipped feet, but that was
cured with some bitter apple (and not wearing socks without shoes).  My
female, however, has always been a bad biter.  She nipped at feet and hands
(cured with bitter apple), bit hard when playing (cured by putting her in
the cage for a 5-10 minute time-out), and only has one thing left.
 
She bites _viciously_ when she's mad.  This is almost always when it's time
to go in the cage (they free roam during the day, but are caged at night).
This is a serious bite - not a nip - she digs her teeth in, quite often
drawing blood, usually between my thumb and finger, although she'll settle
for any skin in reach.  Bitter apple doesn't faze her, tapping her on the
nose just makes her bite harder, and, obviously, caging isn't working.  I
tried "pushing the finger into her mouth" trick - all that did was make her
bite other parts besides my fingers.
 
And I'm at a total loss what else to try.  The easy solution is just to let
her run until she's tired and willing to go back in the cage, but that's not
always practical.  And heaven help my hands if she's somewhere she shouldn't
be and I try to put her down on the floor.  (like on the dining room table
when I'm trying to eat dinner)
 
As an aside - she's never really liked being handled much.  My male is a
LittleCuddleFuzzie, who loves to be held and gives lots of kisses - he
doesn't even like to come out of the cage in the morning - he'd rather I
reached in, lifted him out of the hammock, held him a bit, then put him down
to play.  She just squirms when I pick her up...
 
Anyway, I'm at my wits' end.  Any suggestions?  I think I've tried
everything in the FAQ...
 
Tina Marie
--
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     I refuse to give in to spammers - my return address is real!
NBD#5 - skydiver - student pilot - http://www.neosoft.com/~tina - WFFC#4
[Posted in FML issue 2096]