Ferrets all bite... it's one of the ways they play.  If a baby ferret
comes into your family, you can break it of biting, somewhat, by
'scruffing' it when it bites, the way the mother would scruff it.  You
pick it up by the back of the neck, supporting its body in your other
hand ... hold it until it opens its mouth and all the while say gently
'no biting, no biting!', then put it a 'timeout cage' (cat carrier with
hammock is good) but not for more than 10 minutes.  Then you take it out
of the cage and cuddle it.  If it bites again, repeat the above.
 
Clawing at carpets... keep ferret nails trimmed SHORT, but be careful
when you trim them you don't cut to the 'quick'..  that hurts and they
never forget you did that.  I put plastic runner over the carpet at all
entryways (which is where ferrets like to claw).  I also put a lot of
throw rugs around, you know the type... heavy-duty, remnants really...
4-ft x 6-ft... no shags, and I make it clear to them that they 'can' claw
on the remnants.  (Don't underestimate the intelligence of a ferret).
Trim nails once a week... no special 'distracting treats' are needed to
accomplish this, I have had 20 or more ferrets, and I've always had to do
this alone so I know it's not a big deal... Just sit down in a chair,
stand the ferret up on your leg and leaning against your chest, hold the
front paw and trim away.  I never trim the back nails, they do get a
little longer and pointy so they can scratch the skin of mommy, but I
don't really need to trim them, they stay trimmed on their own.  However
if the front nails get long, the ferrets will claw more at carpet and are
more likely to get their claws 'caught' on something which can rip the
nail.
 
pooping outside the box... usually it is the smaller females or older
males who do this (can't easily get into the litter boxes)... if you keep
the litter box clean (I scoop three times a day), they will use the box.
When you see a baby ferret backing up, that generally means 'poopy
time'... if it isn't backing up into a litter box, pick it up and PUT it
in the litter box, and then, do NOT look directly at it!  Ferrets like
their privacy!  If a ferret poops outside the box, immediately clean up
the mess and use some scent-remover on the spot as ferrets will poop on
the same spot if it has a smell.  I also put my litter boxes on carpet
runner, so generally if they miss the box, they do it on the plastic which
is easy to clean.
 
Give the ferrets those figure-8 dog chew toys, cut them in half so they
are a semi-circle.  They will carry them around and gnaw a bit on them,
but they won't get hurt by them... the rubber is hard.  This will keep
them from chewing on cords, etc.  If you see a baby ferret grabbing at
a power cord, immediately make it stop, tell it 'no' and give it 'time
out'... they MUST learn that cords are a no-no.
 
Sunny... tomorrow I'll drop an email on ferret diseases.
[Posted in FML issue 3743]