I've seen alot of posts about biters, but wondered if anyone had ever
addressed the issue of the "friendly nippers", basically the ones the sit
with you and love you and lick you up and then kind of put their teeth on
your arm, or your hand, or your foot, apparently without intent to do harm,
but ... kinda treating you like the rest of their ferret buddies.  I'm
privileged to provide a home to 8 ferrets, and 4 of them "put their teeth"
(for lack of a better description) on me all the time.  It doesn't hurt, at
worst an occasional pinch, and I'm convinced they do it because it's a
ferretty expression of enthusiasm and inclusion of me in their gang.  I also
think my female, Maxx, does it with intent to drag the human off to a good
hiding place, but maybe I'm wrong?
 
To the lady with the "bored" ferrets, mine really like it when I "wrestle
them with sound effects", i.e. lay them on their backs and pretend to go
after their rearends or heads or gently put my fingers in their mouth, all
the while making any ridiculous sound effect, including clicking, chucking,
high-pitched "woo-wooing" (I think you get the picture and for them, it's
not the same without the sound effects...) They also like to be gently
tossed into the papasan chair; they immediately spring back at me, begging
for repeat tosses.  However, when they tore up the Ferret Freeway (basically
a clear dryer hose but clear is preferred because they can see another
ferret inside it and go crazy running on top of it) and had to go for 2
weeks without it until I could get to the pet store, I did get alot of
fuzzies standing around and giving me reproachful stares.  The box the
Freeway came in was also very popular until it collapsed from the strain.
 
Lynne and the 8 fuzzies who took over Lynne's papasan chair
[Posted in FML issue 2180]