Hi.  I'm new to ferrets, and am the very proud owner of a 14 week-old
light sable hob, called Fergus, but I'm starting to feel slightly
desperate.  I've had him for six weeks now, and he is adorable and has
never bitten, but he does chew hands and feet, and I have run out of ideas.
We don't have many books on the subject in England, and I've tried all the
punishments (scruffing, tapping his nose, clapping my hands, spraying with
water, shouting 'no', and spraying with an anti-chew spray).  These all
worked to some extent, until he got used to them, except the scruffing,
which made him worse.  I've also tried keeping my hands still, which I read
here might help.  It does, but that doesn't help my toes!!  We don't even
have bitter apple in England, and he seems to have become immune to the
taste of the anti-chew spray!!  As he's my first, I wondered whether he's
just being a teenager, or whether there's any way of stopping this now,
other than never exposing any flesh at all!  He gets plenty of play and
affection, so what am I doing wrong?  Just as an afterthought - does anyone
know whether it's bad breeding, a small gene pool or diet that is affecting
the health of American ferrets?  In England, ferrets are considered hardier
than cats and dogs, although this may be because sickly ferrets would never
be bred from as there is no profit to be made from breeding them.  Probably
because they are still rare as pets, and are mainly used for rabbiting,
which requires strong healthy animals.  These tend to be the only ones bred
from.  I'm not saying that it is the fault of unscrupulous breeders, but
the high percentage of ill ferrets surely suggests some sort of genetic
weakness that is being ignored by some breeders.  Does anyone have any
ideas?
[Posted in FML issue 2764]