My fiance, Derek, has had a female ferret, Gussy, for about a year and half.
She loves him and would never even think of biting him (unless his bare feet
are exposed!).  But she has literally jumped out of his arms just to bite
me.  At first I thought it was just something that I was doing, but we have
noticed that she acts this way with everyone except him.  I have read the
posts about the abused ferrets, but he bought her when she was only 9 weeks
old and she doesn't seem to be afraid me.  I have always loved watching her
play, but I had to be fully clothed with boots, gloves and a hooded
sweatshirt in order for her to be let out.  Despite all of this, I still
fell in love her.  About a month ago, I bought my own ferret, a male named
Fester.  This made me very determined to "make" Gussy like me, or at least
tolerate my presence in a room.  I started by giving her a bath.  She did
not bite me while she was in the water, but I did need the gloves to put her
in and take her out of the water.  She gradually began to let me give her
treats and pick her up.  Now I no longer have to keep all of my skin covered
when she is out and she will even sit on my lap occasionally.  The problem
is that she has not completely stopped biting me.  Every once in a while
she'll just leap at me and bite--she never does this to Derek.  And when her
teeth are on me she will only let go when he shouts "No".  My cries seem to
get no response from her.  Do I just have to be a little more patient?  I
would appreciate any suggestions.
 
My other problem is my little Fester.  I noticed that he developed a bad
odor around his face and finally pinpointed it to his ears.  His ears are
full of reddish-brown wax.  I clean them daily, but by the next day they are
full of wax again.  I'm pretty sure that he does not have ear mites--due to
the color of the wax and the fact that he never scratches his ears.  His
ears do not seem to bother him, but my family gets upset when he goes to
their house for a visit because he smells so bad.  They agree that the odor
is coming from his ears.  Could he have a bacterial infection in his ears?
I love letting him travel with me--he loves it too--but the smell makes him
an unwanted guest.  Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Gussy and Fester get along great together--nonstop playing when they visit
each other.  Do we need to worry about Gussy catching whatever is causing
Fester's ear problems?
 
I am a new subscriber to FML.  I love it because I have learned so much
already.  Keep up the good work!!
 
Terri and Fester
Derek and Gussy
[Posted in FML issue 1702]