Hi everyone,
I have a question on my ferrets new behavior.
 
I have a 12 week old MF, male Sable, Tango, that I have had since he was 6
weeks old.  When he was younger, he would nip of course but had gotten much
better as he has been getting older.  We did acquire another MF, male,
silver mitt, Chico, at six weeks old a few weeks ago.  The two did duke it
out in the beginning but now they are buds.  I'm really concerned the way
Tango has been acting lately.  Chico is more of a mellow guy, nips of course
but only playing.  Tango has been biting extremely harder than usual and
hanging on to my skin, refusing to let go.
 
Whenever I had given him treats or Ferretone in the past, he would take it
from my hands gently.  Now, he is extremely wild, if I have a treat in my
hand, he will jump & attack my hand, leg or however he can to get at it.  He
has just recently started acting like this about a week ago.  He also will
come up to me and lick my arm or leg for a couple of seconds, then bite down
very hard, not letting go, sometimes drawing blood & tearing the skin..  I
have tried scruffing him, saying "no" loudly, but doesn't seem to work.  If
I put my finger in his mouth, that only makes him more angry and go for my
other leg or arm.  I don't want to have to spray bitter apple all over
myself, I like that he follows me around wherever I may go and licks me.  I
thought he was doing it for attention, but I give them both a lot of
attention.  He still likes playing with Chico, the smaller ferret, although
he has been hissing & chittering more at him when they are in their cage
together & both trying to eat out of the same bowl.  He will also take one
piece of food from the bowl and dart off to another corner of the room to
eat in peace.  He never used to act like this at all.  I have noticed that
both of their stools have become "grainy", is that due to the Ferretone?
 
Is he just being a ferret or do you think there might be more going on?  He
is losing some hair, I think just due to shedding though, not on his tail.
I would appreciate any comments.  Thank You!  :-)
 
Tracy,
Chico & Tango (flipped-out-fert)
[Posted in FML issue 2299]