[This was posted in 3 parts which have been combined into one.  BIG]
 
I've received a number of emails later concerning my remarks about handling
biters.  The most commonly asked question is "What do you do?" but I think
that the most important question is "Why do you do it that way?"
 
I've tried to be as concise as possible and I've omitted some perfectly
acceptable gestures and methods for the sake of brevity and to concentrate
more on the "whys" than the "hows".  Any "how" that conforms with the
"whys" limitations will likely do your ferret no harm.
 
Please be aware that I am not a vet or a shrink or an animal behavior
"professional".  I have no animal/medical industry "brotherhood" to
represent or defend, or fellow "professionals" for whom to make excuses or
cover up.  I'm just an ordinary Dr. Mom that scoops the poop and breaks up
the squabbles and has 14-18 hours a day to observe the 20 some-odd fuzzies
that range free in my home/office during the day.  If any of my opinions or
remarks violates some proven ethic, I am more than willing to research that
ethic to try and resolve the contradiction.
 
By nature, ferrets bite for survival.  They bite to eat or because they are
afraid.  Those are the only two reasons.  Anger is an extension of fear and
not a separate thing.  Anger is a chosen response to a stimulus.  Ferrets
(and humans) choose to become angry because something has threatened some
aspect of their security.  The choice of using anger instead of a different
choice (fleeing/hiding, submission, humor) to resolve the threat is made
because anger has proven to be an effective, expedient means of resolution
before.  Ferrets who bite in anger as an initial response are actually few
and far between and have been severely abused for a long time.  The usual
biter is acting on a habitual fear response.
 
The usual first comment I receive on that statement is "But I have never,
never hurt this ferret!"
 
Which is wonderful, if it's true.  But it seldom is.  We humans tend to
rationalize that if we're ok with it, it doesn't hurt the ferret either.
Here, we should probably redefine the word "hurt".  To the ferret, it means
"threaten".  (And to humans, also, although we don't like to admit it.)
(I personally threaten ferrets on an hourly basis... usually when one backs
up beside the litter box and grins in defiance while depositing a mother
lode.)  Our biggest problem with threats is in the degree of danger the
ferret feels.  So how do we know how much danger the ferret perceives?  We
certainly don't intend to hurt them!
 
Fear is learned.  It's really that simple/complicated.  Each biter has an
individual set of experiences in its lifetime that has taught it to respond
in fear.  The only tool we have to work with is observation.  And it's a
very unwieldy, slow, and tedious tool.  We have to watch the ferret's
responses to what we consider "routine" daily living and try to catalog
what "normal" things seem to cause "abnormal" responses.  It's (marginally)
easier if we know something of the ferret's history.  For reference, I'll
list some examples:
 
# 1. Powder, a beautiful dark-eyed white, came to the shelter at two years
of age as an "incurable" biter.  Whenever touched, she would bite,
viciously drawing blood.  To put her out to play it was necessary to open
the cage quietly and pick her up while she was sleeping to quickly put her
on the floor.  To return her to her cage, she had to be allowed to curl up
and sleep somewhere so that the process could be repeated in reverse.  Her
owners, very admirably, never hit her, in spite of being bit.
 
Why did she bite such caring and conscientious owners?  Powder, unknown
to her original owners, is deaf.  Being suddenly touched without warning
frightened her as a young kit.  With each progressive "security" measure
her owners used to handle her, the learning of the fear response was
intensified.  Quietly (not jarring the cage, movement she would have felt
if sleeping lightly) opening the cage, being sure to catch her from behind
to avoid the teeth, waiting until she was asleep, quickly dropping her to
the floor, all served to convince Powder that the next time she was touched
might be worse.
 
# 2. Chiquita, a Panda faced light sable 1 year old would bite unpredictably,
drawing blood.  "She just bites for no reason, just because she wants too!"
For her we have no history, no recounting of how she was handled or
disciplined.  Experience and observation were to be our only clues.
Reaching into a sleepbox or an enclosed area to get her was a sure-fire way
to get nipped.  Kissing her was a guarantee.  In fact, putting her anywhere
near your face was tantamount to asking for a bloody lip, nose, or chin.
 
Why?  I still don't know.  I can only guess by adding up all the separate
incidents.  Maybe she originally ran and hid when she was frightened (was
she chased down for pooping on the floor?  - ferrets see nothing wrong with
that!).  Was she was dragged out (frightened more) and scolded (held up eye
level and yelled at?  Frightened more) and hit or maybe even bitten back
when she bit (yes, biting back, the tail usually, is a common practice for
some breeders, even!).
 
#3.  Rosa and Emily, a light sable and a dark sable, 3 months old, would
bite any hand that entered the cage.  It had taken their young owner only
a few weeks to realize that keeping a ferret cage clean required daily
attention.  The child s mother learned just as quickly that a dirty ferret
cage smells.  The cage, with ferrets, was moved to the garage.  Where
attention was given even more infrequently and they lived mostly in the
dark.
 
Even after several weeks at the shelter where food and water were always
fresh and the litter box cleaned daily, Rosa and Emily still had to be
handled with extreme caution.  Moving them from the cage to the play area
and back had to be done very slowly.  They still reacted like animals that
d never been handled by humans.  Then came the time to disassemble their
cage for a thorough cleaning and they were temporarily moved to a large pet
taxi.  As is typical at private animal shelters, other matters intervened
(other rescues to pick up, trips to the vet, etc.) and the girls ended up
spending several days in the temporary accommodations.  They had finally
begun to come around.  They were less wild, and they didn t nip.  Their
cage got cleaned and they were returned to its more spacious living area.
They regressed with more biting, more struggling to get free.  They were
moved to a different cage and their behavior improved.  To them, their
original cage was a place of neglect where food and water might run out.
The dark probably didn t bother them as much as it seems offensive to us.
They prefer dark dens to sleep.
 
# 4. From another shelter which uses the same methods for incurable biters
comes Rascal s story, another "interesting case"...(who's now living the
good life in Florida).  After a few days here I realized that he would bite
my hands whenever they came near...whether I reached in his cage or reached
toward him while he was out to play or even if he came up to me...he'd
always bite my hands.  I could see in those eyes there was a very sweet and
loving ferret just waiting to "come out" so I continued to try different
things.  I discovered that he had no problem giving kisses and even seemed
eager to do so (after you bandaged your hand and held him to your face like
an idiot)...what was even more amazing considering it was invading his
space...is that I learned I could open his cage door and stick my head
inside his cage near him (no hands, just my face) and he'd shower me with
kisses!
 
He loved me, he wanted to be friends but he was deathly afraid of "hands".
The reason is obvious...he'd been severely abused.  Once I made this
discovery it took very little time to win his trust and get him to stop
biting my hands...though I did nothing except call his name as he bit, to
let him know it hurt and that I was talking to "him".  Eventually he only
put his teeth on my hands as a warning.  I moved slowly and once he
released my hand I stroked him gently with the same hand, talking calmly
and soothingly the whole time...well that didn't last too long either...
he stopped biting at all.
 
# 5.  Iah, is a dark sable 4 year old that would bite bare feet.  Not a
vicious biter, she would just nip the top of your foot.  She was a little
over a year old when she arrived at the shelter.  She has a ring of bare
skin around her neck where a collar used to be.  It was too tight for too
long, and fur doesn t grow there even after 3 years.  No history of hitting
or kicking or mistreatment.  (You have probably realized by now that
shelters seldom get the whole truth from owners who surrender ferrets.)
 
Iah loves to be held.  Iah loves to go places with us.  And when she gets
sufficient holding and attention, she doesn t nip our feet.  The scar
around her neck tells the true story.  Iah was neglected.
 
None of these ferrets still bite (without reason!)  Powder can even be
picked up when she s asleep without awakening frightened (it s taken two
years to accomplish it).  Chiquita nips only when you put her to your face
too suddenly or don t pet her before pulling her out of her sleeping place.
Rosa and Emily, now 1 year old, have learned to play and love to be held
and petted.  Neither bites.  Now Rascal s just a "love".  And we hold Iah
a lot. :-)
 
They all have one thing in common.  They were all hurt in the sense that
they were taught to fear something.  Pain is the word that only humans
first associate with the concept hurt .
 
To treat these ferrets, they were held, petted, and spoken softly to while
blood dripped from our fingers (chin, lip, nose) on the floor.  They only
had to learn that biting would not produce the result they expected (being
released) or that being touched was not something to fear.  And no, it s
not easy to not react with a sudden movement or a yell when those sharp
teeth dig in.  Unlike a cat, which bites and releases, a ferret usually
bites and holds until you give up.  They were never hit, flicked, thumped,
or touched in any other sudden aggressive movement for biting.  To do so
would have been equal to hitting them for being afraid, even although after
years of responding with a bite, it is more of a habitual response than it
is still an actual fear.
 
Please bear in mind, that this is how we handle problem biters.  Young kits
are a slightly different subject.  Most have simply not yet learned that
humans are wimps.  A scruffing and a firm eye to eye No! or dragging by
the scruff across the floor (the mother ferret s version of discipline)
is usually eventually effective to train the youngsters that nipping is
not allowed.  And, as hard as it is, wear a sweat suit and heavy socks to
bed and absolutely ignore the undercover nippers/scratchers.  Don t even
wiggle & try not to jump!  And notice the use of the word eventually.
Ferrets are one of the most persistent (muleheaded) critters I ve ever
encountered.  It takes awhile for your opinion to get noticed, a little
longer for them to consider its merits, and a little longer for them to
decide that you really are bigger and more muleheaded than they are.
 
Ferrets understand pecking order.  They realize that everyone has a place
in the chain of command.  But they don t understand regret.  They don t
feel sorry for pooping in the corner or digging up the ivy.  They do
associate their actions with our reactions.  They will feel threatened if
they are hit while walking from the corner to go play, or yanked out of the
dirt they were playing in and yelled at.  Then, if they don t want to be
hit or yelled at they shouldn t do those things, right?  Well, which thing
was that?  Walk across the floor?  Play?  Pooping?  Digging?  I don t think
you ll manage to stop them from doing any of those things because they
simply don t associate Don t poop! with in the corner! and the words don t
and dig don t belong in the same paragraph, much less the same sentence.
Digging at blocked pathways (closed doors, furniture) is not a habit to be
broken.  They are ferrets and these behaviors are instinctive, not learned.
You could teach them not to breath just as easily.  For those behaviors,
it s the human who must learn to compensate.  (Put plastic carpet runners
in doorways, etc.)
 
Since they can associate their actions with our reactions they can be
trained (or they can train us, the jury is still out on that
differentiation).  Getting praise or a treat and pooping in a litter box
associate quite well.  Enough that after several repetitions, they ll go
the litter box and do a phantom poop just to get a treat.  (Who s training
who?) The same goes for rewards and digging in a sandbox of potting soil
or rice.  (Pot plants are still at risk!  The call of the wild is just too
great when it s convenient.  The sandbox must be available & the pot plants
out of easy reach.)
 
Now to turn it all in a different direction and really confuse you:
 
All I have to do is say Scruffy!  sharply, and my 2 year old wannabe alpha
male will immediately stop harassing semi-hairless Snoop.  Why?  Because I
hissed at him (or what he has learned is my equivalent of hissing at him
specifically).  He understands that I am above him in the pecking order.
It took 4 months of pulling him off Snoop, scruffing, scolding, dragging,
and swats on the flanks (short & fast but no harder than you would lightly
applaud or tap an elderly lady on the shoulder) to convince him that I was
serious and would not change my mind.  What!!???  I HIT him?  Yes.  The
purpose is not to inflict any degree of pain.  The purpose is the sudden,
aggressive movement.  If you ve ever watched a dominance struggle between
two ferrets, have you noticed how they ll turn sideways and bodyslam the
other, or, when they re serious about biting each other, how quickly their
heads lunge?  My version of spanking without the sting is more or less
that equivalent.  Their bones are really very fragile in spite of the
nonchalance with which they ricochet off solid objects.  Tapping a nipping
young kit s nose accomplishes a similar purpose.  Not thumping, or hitting,
or causing any degree of pain or stinging!  Not even enough to make it s
head move, only touching.  Just the sudden, aggressive gesture establishes
dominance.  Again, there are no instant results.  It takes time and
consistency.
 
Trish Curtis has said, One of the biggest issues I deal with concerning
biters is trust.  Once they have been
mishandled/mistreated/slapped/thumped/whatever some ferrets lump all humans
in the same category...ie: "you are a human, therefore you will hurt me
unless I hurt/dominate/kill you first".  This explains the unprovoked
attacks/bites we shelter operators get.  It can be a slow process (and it
is in most cases) of allowing the ferret to simply be themselves; to play,
romp, poop in corners, tear open our fingers, bloody our noses, etc., with
no reaction from us except reassurance, holding, speaking softly to, etc.,
to finally convince these ferrets that for some odd reason *we* are
different than all the other humans they've known before.
 
Trust is instinctive, not learned.  It is there underneath the learned
fear.  When the fear is unlearned, the animal s natural instinct is no
longer repressed.  (Which is, technically, what we re doing when we train
an animal to modify an instinctive behavior, i.e. make the trip to the
corner with the litter box instead of the nearest corner or stop chewing
on the other ferret s ear when scolded.)
 
This is by no means meant to imply that those who flick noses (stinging),
or pull whiskers (again, producing discomfort), or hit to cause stinging or
slight pain are being abusive.  I do realize that they see an apparently
effective result.  To be completely objective, there are, in fact, ferrets
that do not suffer any undue ill-effects from slight physically
uncomfortable discipline.  But given the ferret s inability to communicate
whether or not it is one that can take it, I personally prefer to err on
the side of caution.  In my experience, the gesture, without the
discomfort, is sufficient although it may take longer.
 
Ferrets perceive pain as a threat.  They don t have the capacity regret
they did something that got them hurt.  Whatever hurt them is perceived as
a source of fear.  If that fear source has also established dominance the
ferret may appear to have learned not to do what got him hurt to that
dominant fear source.  But when someone else does it, the ferret s first
response is to get in the first shot in this new battle for dominance.
The ferret has not learned not to bite.  It s only learned it s below the
dominant handler in the pecking order.  Anyone else is fresh meat.
 
Biters can t be treated the same as other disciplinary problems, just as
humans treat emotional disorders differently from behavior problems, once
they are correctly diagnosed.
 
It s really that easy(?).
 
Debi Christy
Ferrets First Foster Home, Carthage, TX
[Posted in FML issue 3012]