It has been years since I have written this group about a problem with
a ferret, but this one has me so stumped that I think it deserves the
attention of a larger group of ferret lovers than my usual group of
peers.
 
I have an albino ferret name Joshua.  Joshua is about 4 years old.  He
was adopted at the age of about 6 months.  Shortly after I adopted
Joshua, he began to display a bad habit that had not shown up in the
short time he was in the shelter.  He was an intermittent biter - mostly
wrists, ankles and sometimes tops of feet.  Over the past 4 years I have
worked with Joshua and he improved tremendously.  Biting incidents were
handled with a "scruff and drag" along with a "No Bite!".  I found this
worked remarkable well and Joshua's biting incidents reduced in frequency
and intensity.
 
No here is where the problem comes in... Over the past couple of weeks,
Joshua's biting is almost out of control.  My son is staying with me for
4 weeks and while he was sitting in the chair in the living room, Joshua
climbed up and immediately gave my son a blood drawing bite on the wrist.
My son picked Joshua up and put him back down on the floor with a "No
Bite".  I came into the living room and instructed him on the "scruff and
drag".  Not more than 2 minutes later, Joshua repeated the same thing -
biting to draw blood.  After the 3rd bite, I had no other recourse, but
to put Joshua in his cage.  Not for punishment, but for my son's
well-being.  Since then, I only let Joshua out when my son is not home,
which is quite often.  However, when my son comes home, Joshua makes a
bee-line for him and I have to get Joshua and put him in his cage.  I
felt we could work with this situation until I could devise a gate for
the door to their room and again thinking that it is only for a few more
weeks.
 
Well, the real issue occured yesterday.  I was laying on the couch
watching movie.  My son was out, so Joshua had been out playing and
napping all day.  As I lay there, he came into the living room, climbed
up on the couch and immediately grabbed my wrist with such intensity that
I was shocked.  I did the "scruff and dray" with "No Bite" and put him
down on the floor.  He immediately climbed right back up on the couch and
before I could react, he grabbed my other wrist and dug his tooth in so
far and with such intensity that even with scruffing him, I could not get
him to let go.  When he finally released my wrist, I took him into the
bathroom and wiped his face off with some cool water, thinking I could
calm him down.  I then put him in his cage for some quiet time, again not
really for punishment, but for some time to calm down.
 
Not only was I dripping blood from both wrists by this time, but my heart
was broken to think that Joshua would bite me with such intensity and
such fervor.  I am at a loss as to why this biting has escalated to this
degree with both by son and me.  No one has hurt Joshua.  He doesn't
seem ill.  Not much has changed in the house or in his routine.
 
I have even considered contacting a friend of mine who is an animal
communicator to see if there is something I have overlooked.
 
If anyone has any suggestions at all, I am open for them.
 
Phyllis
Mom to Tobey, Joshua, Molly, Simon, Gabriel & Sadie Midori
[Posted in FML issue 4950]