Lisa wrote regarding biting <Is he just too young to learn this yet?>
 
Lisa, Jasper may need more time to learn not to bite.  At 9 weeks, he's
very young.  As long as he can hear you (not deaf), loud No's will help.  I
don't know if scruffing the neck is valuable.  If you keep putting him back
into his cage when he insists on biting, you may create a dislike for the
cage and frustrate him into biting more.
 
Put something between you and Jasper when you play, such as a stuffed animal
or mitt so he learns to bite that instead of you.
 
My 3-year-old Farrah gradually learned not to bear down when play biting
in 6-9 months. When she play bites now in two of our games, she briefly
puts her teeth around my hand but doesn't bear down.  I don't holler
about that and she seems to know it's OK.  In fact, I excitedly praise
her for her swiftness.
 
Thirteen-month-old Fannie is finally catching on.  It's taking her longer
because she's deaf and can't hear vocal objections to hard play biting.  All
I've done with her, besides giving TLC, is keep my hands away from her mouth
when playing, use the stuffed animal approach, and stop playing if she gets
me.  She's at a disadvantage because she can't hear the inflections in a
human voice that would normally give valuable direction.
 
Sorry, I don't know if dog food is harmful for ferrets.  Pets are funny.
My granddog loves ferret food.  She has expensive taste.
 
Alice
[Posted in FML issue 2247]