Hi folks,
 
I think we may have hit the wall with Phoebe.
 
For those of you who don't know, Phoebe (aka Phobia) is one of the four
ferrets who were retrieved from a now-defunct shelter in Brantford, Ont.
To the best of my knowledge, she was raised in a barn by a "breeder" who
was selling whole ferrets at flea markets for a dollar apiece.  She came to
us scared and pregnant, and a week later gave birth to nine kits, of which
four survived.
 
At first we figured Phoebe was biting because she was pregnant and feeling
protective of herself and the babies.  The longer she's at our house,
though, the more vicious a biter she becomes.  She used to bite when she
felt threatened (as best we can tell), but now she's biting (and HARD)
whenever there is any bare skin near her.
 
For example, she wanted out of the cage (we're keeping her and her babies
separate from the other five ferts) this morning, so I picked her up, then
set her down on the floor to run.  The first thing she did was lunge for my
toe and take a piece out of it.  She's been biting the hell out of Rob, and
she beats up our other ferrets something terrible -- and she goes out of her
way to do it.  Even if we're ignoring her, or if the other ferrets are
across the room doing something else, she makes a point to come over and
draw blood.  The only member of our household who's relatively unscathed is
the cat, who beat her up the first time she tried to bite him.
 
We've tried being gentle.  We've tried long "holding" sessions with Phoebe
wrapped in a towel.  We've tried ignoring her and leaving her to her own
devices.  The only things we haven't tried are bathing in Bitter Apple or
Tobasco sauce (besides, we don't think the other ferrets would cotton to
that, even if it did deter Phoebe).
 
Rob and I are beginning to seriously wonder about Phoebe's ...well,
personality disorder.  Among other things, we don't know how inbred she is
or what her living situation was like before she came to us.  Her babies are
six weeks old and pretty much nip-trained (by us) already, and seem to be
turning out "normal", but we're not sure how that reflects on her.
Moreover, we're beginning to wonder if Phoebe's just vicious.
 
We've brought a couple of other biters home, and it turns out they needed
dental work (cut canines extracted); once their mouths stopped hurting, they
have been nothing but sweethearts.  Phoebe's teeth appear to be healthy and
in good working order (ask my toe), however.
 
Could any of you who are veterans with extreme biters offer any other
suggestions?  We'll do anything we can to avoid having her put down; we're
also wondering, however, if being in a house with multiple ferrets is part
of her stress.
 
Help, please?
 
Thanks much for your suggestions.
 
Kind regards,
 
Kate
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Toronto Internet Ferret Group
[Posted in FML issue 2357]