With all of the talk about ferret abuse and biting, I thought I would
share a story.
 
When we first started breeding ferrets, a friend of my sister-in-laws told
us of her dad's ferrets - two whole albinos.  They needed new homes and the
female they thought may be pregnant.  My husband and sister-in-law went to
get the ferrets.  When they got back, I took a look at the female and my
jaw dropped!  Her belly was huge!  She had her kits that night!  A very
large litter of albino kits with very long, narrow bodies and heads is what
was produced.  They were all altered and placed to what we thought we good
homes.
 
About a month after one little girl's placement, the new owners called us.
They were very upset and said this little girl was biting the hell out of
them - enough to draw blood.  They told me that I knowingly sold them a
biting ferret.  I informed them that she had never bitten us and never once
bit them when they came to get her.  I also asked them why they waited a
month before calling us for help.  They went on to tell me that the little
girl's tail was bent, her nose was crooked, and she had lumps on her body.
I reminded them that they had signed a health agreement that the ferret had
none of these conditions.  I was then hung up on.
 
I feared this little girl was being severly abused - a bent tail could be
from picking up by the tail, swinging by the tail; a crooked nose could
have been hit and broken; a body could have been beaten.  I tried to locate
the new owners - I had an address and phone (which they never answered).
By the time I had finally reached them, she was dead.  They refused to let
me have a necropsy done on her.  It hurt me so much - the thought that this
poor girl was most likely abused over a communication misunderstanding
between ferret and owners.  I keep telling myself that I should have
screened better.  After time I came to understand how well others can cover
things up and that it was not my fault.
 
I believe in communitacting with your animals - reading their body language,
listening to them - but I also believe in each party having respect for
each other.  I do reprimand my animals - not abuse them - so I can
"control" them if ever in a sticky situation - like at the vet, in public,
when meeting strangers, new animals, etc.
 
Do reprimand with consistancy, with kindness, and try to understand why
your ferret is behaving the way it is and what your reprimand will teach
it.  Will it fear you and make matters worse?
 
Amy Flemming
Flemming Farms
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/ranch/9521
[Posted in FML issue 2468]