Hey Ya'll,
 
Well, the time has come to discuss the biters who really aren't:
non-socialized ferrets.  Again, non-socialized means they do not understand
what is, and more importantly, what is not acceptable behavior to humans.
 
This mostly involves play, but also involves initiatives for play or for
just attention in general.
 
This also is about, my guesstimate, 95% of what ferret owners deal with. I
think the actual percentage of biters from fear is very small and not seen
by most folks.
 
Ferrets without social skills bite.  But the biggest majority of what they
do is nip, even if the nipping does draw blood (yes, I know I said drawing
blood was biting, but you really have to try and understand motives here).
 
The trouble is, ferrets have really tough skin and us hairless apes have
really delicate skin.  What is nothing but attention getting to another
ferret can bruise us or break the skin.  This is why it is best to let the
ferrets argue amongst themselves on pecking order issues, they rarely really
hurt each other.  Tough little critters.
 
You mostly run into this problem in young ferrets.  HOWEVER, if a young
ferret was labeled a biter even when not, that often leads to lack of
socialization which leads to the ferret being given up as a biter.  All they
really needed was a steady hand to teach them acceptable behavior.  So you
can get older ferrets who don't know.  Or like two of mine.  They came from
a woman who uses two canes to get around and the feeling in her lower legs
is much less than normal folks.  So her two really bit me hard to get
attention, often drawing blood.  They were two when they came here, but have
all but gotten over this, they just needed new guidelines.
 
Ferrets needing socialization will run up and nip at you for attention,
and then stand and wait for the fun to start.  They don't normally run off
immediately, unless trying to get a game of chase going.  Most of the time
saying no, and not rewarding them by picking them up right away, or doing
whatever it is they want, will get the point across.
 
If they ask, but in an inappropriate manner, I will say no and then wait 5
or 10 minutes and then go and initiate the play with them myself.  If they
nip too hard during play, I stop the play and say no, no bite.  Then pause,
and then play again.
 
Consistency is the key here.  Decide what is acceptable to you, and stick
with it.  You will only confuse the animal by constantly changing the rules.
 
In my hard headed or slow learners, I have found one thing that works like
a charm every time.  Time outs.  And not in their normal cages, but in an
empty carrier, and only for 5-10 minutes tops.
 
Conan the Toebiter still nips a little, although the last 6 months has seen
a vast improvement in his behavior.  He is two years old.  I also honestly
believe he is very slow mentally.  He still acts like a kit, and doesn't
seem to understand a lot of stuff at first.  The only thing that worked on
him was the time outs.  Not scruffing, not saying no, just the time outs.
He doesn't nip out of meanness, he just wants attention.  He will nip hard
and then stand and look at you like "Can we play now, can we, can we?"
 
And if you have ferret who nips from not being socialized, keeping it caged
more and more will only make the problem worse.  The ferret will get to
resent how it is being treated, will start biting to NOT GO in the cage and
then end up in a bad situation.
 
It takes time and a lot of patience.  Ferrets are independent, so expecting
them to submit instantly like a dog is not reasonable.  It takes longer to
work out the agreements with them.  Sometimes months.  It is more than worth
it for the rewards of love and joy you receive back from them.
 
And if you cannot do this yourself (some ferrets are harder to deal with
than others) then please find the animal a new home.  But remember, what you
are dealing with is not a true biter, not a mean animal (I do not believe,
for the most part, in mean animals.  Just abused or neglected ones.  Outside
of a couple of dog breeds that MAN has bred badly).  Give your ferret lots
of love and attention and you will have a loving animal in return.
 
Bottom line, don't reward unwanted behavior by doing what the ferret wants.
But do reward good behavior with love, treats, play, etc.  Make sure you are
reinforcing the right things.  You are the one setting the ground rules.
Not the ferret.  Just consider their true nature and work with that, don't
fight it.  Ferrets are ferrets.
 
Margaret in Mid Mo
[Posted in FML issue 2395]