Apparently, the ether ate this one...

Begin forwarded message:

 From: Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
 Date: August 9, 2007 12:47:21 PM EDT

The first step, of course, is a vet's appointment to make sure that
she is not in pain from any medical issue and doesn't have any fouled
up dental eruptions. We had one whose dental arcade was too short who
erupted a molar through his palate, and we took in one who had been
thrown and beaten in a pet store due to biting. Her tail was badly
broken. The reason she bit wasn't her tail, though. A baby canine had
gotten turned on edge and trapped as the adult canines came in and
she had one huge abscess. Right in the store we had them bring up
forceps/tweezers and I got the baby tooth out which was followed by an
eruption of puss. That sweet little kit looked at my with surprise and
relief and immediately began kissing me. She never bit anyone again.
The next step we made with her was an emergency vet appointment to
prevent further damage and make sure the infection had not gone to the
bone. Meeteetse lived out her life with us and was one of the most
adoring ferrets we have had in our decades with them.

Trust is key. People want to try hard to fashion their own behaviors
into actions which build trust for their ferrets. Usually, even without
people noticing, the animals in homes wind up adjusting their behaviors
more to suit our human needs than humans modify theirs to suit the
animal's needs, but sometimes there are individuals or circumstances
which aren't quite that simple.

If those don't help, then the second step is to read this wonderful
resource:

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083/probintro.html

Although some links go to punishment approaches we found long ago that
those tend to backfire, but the article itself is excellent for the
constructive and gentle advice!

If you have any trouble linking from the site to its parts. I RECOMMEND
READING THE ENTIRE THING!

1.  http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083/probintro.html

2.  http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083/probindex.html

3.  (ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL)
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083/probmed.html

4.  (ALSO ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL)
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083/probhead.html

5.  (ESSENTIAL)
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083/probyou.html

6.  (SMILE)
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083/probstories.html

If the ferret has a sensory handicap contributing to the problem then
see my links page in the URLs in my sig lines and look in there for
the section on handicapped ferrets for places to help you.

Here is another resource:
Ailigh and Joel Vanderbush are professional animal behaviorists,
complete with the education and experience needed.

http://www.animalia.us/staff.htm

Have you considered that your soap or perfume could be causing the
problem?

Have you looked into how your own responses could continue the
behavior?

What do you know of the ferret's background? We wound up with one kit
who came here having been abused by someone who returned her to the pet
shop. She badly needed security and she needed to be able to beat the
heck out of shoes and out of coats made of oil cloth, both of which
would trigger fear behavior until she mastered them thoroughly. I think
they triggered something similar to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome for
her. Her abuser was a male so even in later years when she totally
trusted Steve usually she would have to kiss him on the back or when he
was asleep because face to face with an awake male was a bit too much
often for her. She loved to have me bring her in to Steve when he was
asleep so that she could express her love for him. When she was elderly
she finally took to face to face kisses with him and accepted a male
vet. Poor Warp must have been put through hell in that short time with
the abuser.

Finally, for what can be done at home this may sounds silly but we
have had some who object to words that sound like hisses or growls, so
perhaps Sugar may not be the best of names if this one is sensitive to
"S" sounds. One of the ones with terribly bad deformations for whom we
provided a family in past and Steve and I had to use nicknames instead
each other's names because the "S" bothered Ruffle so badly. She was
fine for percussive sounds like "T", purring sounds like "R" and also
for "F" and "L".

Should nothing work find someone in your area who has rehabbed ferrets
and either get the ferret help or a new home through those people. The
chances of needing to do that if you use the various wonderful
resources mentioned here are extremely low.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5697]