Reply to Megan Quinn's observations:
 
I am sure if you were watching me try to clean one of my deaf ferret's
teeth at the show you would have accused me of abuse too, and I have twenty
years experience.  I manage a veterinary hospital.  He screamed loud enough
to wake the dead and someone commented that they had never heard a ferret
scream like that before.  Well come to my house anytime.  I have 7 deaf
ferrets and they scream like that for all occasions, play, fighting, seeing
another ferret they don't like....... I have already warned the neighbors
not to call the police they are merely loud because they cannot hear.  As I
write this two are in the playpen squealing like they are being tortured
with hot branding irons.  Things are not always what they appear to be.  I
also will give them a smack on the snout if they snap out of anger.  Not to
discipline would be to teach the ferret that this behavior is ok.  It is
not.  Animals learn by repetition and consistency.  It is not OK to nip
sometimes but not others.  It is never OK to nip and that must be taught
from the beginning.  It must be done the instant after the undesirable
behavior has occurred, you cannot wait until you are home or when no one is
looking because it might be perceived as abuse.  The ferret will not
remember later what it is being disciplined for.  Your immediate reaction
will dictate how that ferret will handle the same situation in the future
and it may even save his life someday.  You can be firm without being
abusive.
 
What you perceived as abuse, is merely the breeder speaking the ferret's
own language.  If you have ever raised a litter of kits from birth you
would see that is exactly how a Jill disciplines an unruly kit.  Or how an
older ferret will put a younger one in it's place.  If you could see some
of my tiny jills trashing a teenage hob with too much testosterone, you
would surely call the humane society.  Scruffing does not hurt,the nape of
a ferret is the toughest part of it's body, and the consequent screaming
is usually out of anger because they are not getting their own way.  Kits
especially can be like two year olds taking a temper tantrum.  As for the
breeder biting, the ferret back , that is also a ferret's own language.
Some ferrets are more headstrong than others.  Sometimes the only way
littermates have of letting a bully know they have had enough is to bite
him and mean it.  The bite is not hard enough to injure, just to let them
know they mean business.  I do not, however, recommend this particular
method unless you are very experienced with ferrets.  You may wind up the
one being disciplined.  Not all disciplines work for all ferrets.  You have
to use what works for that particular animal.  There is a difference
between abuse and discipline.  If more people accepted this and parents
were allowed to use discipline without having every little thing called
abuse America's children might not find themselves in the trouble they are
in today.  This is not to say that abuse never happens, it unfortunately
does, but you will find in most cases that abusers are cowards and mainly
do it behind closed doors, not in public.  I can tell you that most of the
breeders that have been found out to be abusive or undesirable were the
models of kindness and caring in public.  Never judge a book by it's cover.
Although I did not see what you are describing first hand, I would say it
is not abuse.  I know most of the breeders that were there and they would
have been up in arms if they saw someone abusing a ferret and that includes
another breeder.  If you see something you don't understand, just ask, all
of the show going breeders myself included, will be happy to answer any
questions you might have.
 
Pat Stauffer
Weasels
http://pages.prodigy.net/staufferp/
[Posted in FML issue 2755]