Catherine wrote:
 
>What do you call a ferret that bites strangers prophylactically, seems
>to have no fear of us, but still chomps our noses hard every chance she
>gets?  Is this for fun, for fear, or untrained, or...nuts?
 
but she didnt bite me!  :) You probably call her 'smart enough to take
advantage of people with low ferret confidence levels.' having handled her,
i'd say you should try what i've accustomed mine to: holding her until she
gets bored and wants to nip/squirms to leave, and then say, "NO!" Every time
she holds still in your hands, praise her.  occasionally have a treat for
her when you pick her up.  Every time she squirms, say "No!" firmly.
Finally let her down to run away when she's hanging like a limp little
ferret sack in your arms.  Do this every day, a few times a day, and while
at the end you still may not have a ferret who likes to be held, you at
least have a ferret who sits still.
 
Potpie will whip around to nip at anyone who picks her up when she's busy,
and she'll nip to get put down, unless the person is holding her in the
manner that i trained her to sit still, and mostly unless i'm watching her.
:) She still occasionally whips around when i pick her up, but as soon as
she recognizes 'Oops.  Mom.' she stops.
 
Melissa
 
 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Melissa Litwicki                              "Is it ... atomic?"
      [log in to unmask]                             "Yes! VERY atomic!"
[Posted in FML issue 1755]