Curious combination, but I felt spurred on by several different posts about
biting problems to give my two cents' worth....
We've had several biters...so bad that we thought we'd have to take them
back...*gasp*-I know, it's a real shocker...but we didn't. First thing's
first...be patient. One of ours that was the worst biter has turned out to
be the most precious fert we have.
What we did: Tried AppleBitter...didn't work. Tried spanks...didn't work.
Tried scruffs...didn't work. Sternly saying "no" and swats on the nose
didn't work, especially with the deaf ferrets! Tried time outs...same
story. Seems like we were at the end of our rope. I learned from dog
obedience school...of all places...that to cure a dog from biting, when
s/he bites, stick your hand in further sideways...it makes them REALLY
uncomfortable. So I tried it with ours. Guess what? SUCCESS!!! It took a
few times, and it was just a finger, not the entire hand...but they get the
idea. This has worked with all the ferrets we've had...except one.
Duncan...a large 3 pounder. And jaws of steel. The more you'd push your
finger in (sideways, of course), the harder he'd bite! And talk about
painful! Instead, we hold his jaws apart as far as he lets us...and it's
really uncomfortable for him! We've almost gotten him to stop biting! He's
now at the "play-with-the-humans-too" stage and is starting to learn what
is acceptable nipping and what is painful. It's just something to try if
nothing else works.
Now for the poem...my SO wrote it in October, 1994. About 2 months after
we got our second fert. Enjoy!
Little Ferrets,
At your feet,
Why do they stare
At your toilet seat?
Truth is,
They'd like to jump in,
Fact is,
Ferrets can't swim.
Yes, Skeeter and Gambit,
Brave and bold,
Till they get stuck
In a toilet bowl.
So when you get up
To walk around,
Try not to flush
Our ferrets down.
And please, please, please
Close the lid,
'Cause ferrets live longer
When treated like kids.
:) :) :) :) :) :)
[Posted in FML issue 2382]
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