I guess the subject says it all.  Yes, we have had ferrets who never bit in
their lives with us and we are talking about years and years, with some who
arrived as young kits and lived long full lives.  We also had one who never
intentionally bit a human but I once had my nose get between her and a
ferret she was in a big argument with.  She got so upset when she did that
that she screamed and fainted!  Heck, I've had ferrets which climbed on me
while I was in the tub and tried to nurse and you KNOW I'd never let one
without trustworthy mouth manners do that.  Yes, we have also had ones which
never even nipped (pinching without skin breaking), though all have at one
point of another carefully held a finger in play or led us somewhere very
gently by the finger to show us something.  We have also rehabed abused
ferrets and trained once with handicaps including one who was seriously
intellectually impaired (clinically retarded -- not just slow), and I
haven't met one, yet, who can't be trained with enough love, medical
attention when there is a medical or dental cause(including bad teething --
such as with a baby tooth jammed in the gum between two adult teeth),
times-out, and other smart non-punishment ploys to not bite although a small
minority will still pinch now and then to get attention.  If you want a
ferret which doesn't bite then be gentle yourself.  (We've had ferrets for
something in the neighborhood of 15 years.)
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 2188]