I have noticed answering email questions is better than reading Louis
Binford or typing in a bibliography.
 
Q: My ferret bites. What should I do?
 
A: Never play in the nude with your ferret.
 
Ferrets bite for a number of reasons, the most common are probably play,
aggression, and fear.  Play biting is part of the ferret's genetic
behavioral character and cannot be prevented; doing so is a cruel
punishment.  Dogs and cats also engage in play biting, although perhaps not
as extensively.  Aggression biting can be a problem with any pet, especially
in some dogs, and I have even read reports of aggressive biting in cats.  I
know that as a consequence of large population and behaviorable variability
it must have occurred in ferrets as well, but I have never personally heard
of a case.  Fear biting is either because of surprise, or because of
negative conditioning, such as a ferret tending to bite strangers after
being "trained" to do so by abusive owners.  Any animal, any person for that
matter, will fear bite so long as the circumstances that provoke such a
response occur.  A fear bite can be a single bite and run, or it can be
labelled an attack, with multiple bites.
 
In play biting, the trouble is ferrets think of you as another ferret, and
chomp down. While the acceptance of you as a ferret might be appealing,
the scratches and bleeding on various parts of your body are not.
("Course, I'm making an assumption...maybe someone *likes* it). As hard as
they bite a human, imagine how hard they bite each other, yet it is
extermely unlikely that play biting results in injury to the ferret.
Imagine their surprise when people are hurt. Play biting is a part of the
normal behavior of the ferret, and attempts to stop it probably impact on
the ferret's mental health. while play biting should not be stopped, you
*CAN* teach the ferret not to bite hard.
 
I have no experience with aggression biting so cannot give any sound advice.
I think many instances of so-called aggression biting are in fact instances
of fear biting, but can offer no evidence.
 
Fear biting is common in shelter ferrets, and compared to play biting, the
most difficult to modify.  The only real solution is to get the ferret to
trust you and not be afriad, and that takes time and physical contact, which
means be prepared for the occasional bite.  You can help the situation by
first talking to the ferret so thay are aware of your presence, and then by
letting the ferret sniff the back or palm of your hand (smells more like you
than your fingers, and MUCH harder to get teeth into).  If the ferret
attempts to bite, don't jerk or make sudden movements which might be
frightening or cause the ferret to bite harder.  That's the hard part; twice
I've winced through nose bites given from fear biters.
 
I stumbled upon a quick way to stop *most* fear biting.  About four or five
times a day, I give a small favored treat at the beginning of the contact,
prior to any handling.  After a few days, I give the treat after first
touching the ferret.  When I think the ferret trusts me, I only give the
treat after picking up the ferret.  After a couple days, I only give the
treat about once a day, so most contact does not get a treat.  Instead, I
give positive personal contact, which the ferret nearly always enjoys.  This
approach has never taken more than a week to eliminate most or all fear
biting, at least towards me.  Once that has been accomplished, it is easy
for the ferret to start trusting others, but some have been so abused, they
may *never* trust strangers.
 
Some other tips.  I *never* physically punish a ferret for biting too hard,
especially a fear biter.  I just say no sternly, and put them away for a
while.  My only physical response to a nasty bite is to push my finger
(assuming they have my finger) towards the back of the jaw.  It hyperextends
the jaw, very uncomfortable, and initiates a gag reflex.  This might hurt
the finger more than the ferret, but it works every time, and teaches the
ferret not to bite to hard.  If not my finger, then I push the chewing
muscles that are towards the back of the side of the head just under the
level of the eye (below the zygomatic arch).  Start gently and slowly apply
more pressure until they let go.  This works not because of the pain, but
because the pressure affects the facial nerve running through the muscle.
You can test this on yourself by pushing your finger into the muscle just
under your cheekbone, towards your ear.  Push hard enough, and your mouth
will automatically open.  Pushing harder is intensely painful and not
recommended for either ferret or person.  Remember, you are trying to teach
them to trust and not fear you; punishments always run the risk of making
the ferret worse, not better.  I have used this trick to open a rutting
male's jaws clamped onto an in-heat female's neck, as well as a mink's jaws
clamped into the thumb-to-first-finger webbing of my hand, and it is quite
effective.
 
BTW, trying to *pry* a ferret's mouth open *INTENSIFIES* the bite reflex,
because the ferret begins to resist the effort, and increases the force of
the bite to do so.  The biomechanics of the ferret jaw are such that the
effort required to pry open the jaw would be greater than the force required
to break the bones or teeth.  Remember, the strongest jaw muscles are those
that close the jaw; prying the open is very difficult.
 
However, truthfully, I rarely have to resort to such tricks because it
doesn't take long for even nasty biters like Crystal, Sandy, and Sam Luc to
respond to loving handling.  The new kits have already learned what is an
acceptable bite (although it is not quite as acceptable in the hollow behind
your knee); they love to play, and a hard bite means the cage.  They learn
*very* quickly.
 
I am sure thare are lots of other "end biting" tricks, especially for fear
biters, floating among the FML membership.  Since it is such a common
complaint, perhaps we should all post about our best solutions, and have
them compiled into a FAQ for newbees and shelter operators.
 
Bob C and 21 MO Coed Nude Wrestlers
[Posted in FML issue 2070]