Ok,ok, I know this question has been asked a million times, but I've tried
everything I know to do and it's not getting any better...how do I get my
ferret to stop biting?  I guess I should introduce myself first, since I've
been lurking for a few weeks now.  I'm Mary Beth, and my husband is Kevin.
We got our first (and only so far) ferret about a month ago after much
debate and reading.  She's a little sable girl, somewhere between 4-6mos
old, tenatively named Daisy, although she's not acting like one!!!
 
We got her from a pet store (didn't know of any other place close by) and
the guy there said that they hadn't really been handled a lot.  She behaved
really well during our trips there to decide which one we wanted, no real
biting then.  It started when we got her home, and I think it's getting
worse.  It starts off as play biting when we let her out of her cage, but
the more we attempt to stop her, the more persistent she becomes, and the
harder she bites.  Scruffing her only seems to make her mad, when you can
grab her, because she goes after the hand you're reaching for her with.
I've tried spraying bitter apple on my hands, and if she gets a taste of
bitter apple when she bites, she backs off briefly, but then she tries to
find a non-sprayed area, and most of the time, she can bite without really
getting a taste of it anyway.  I wear long sleeves to play with her, but
now she's starting to try and "dig" back the sleeves with her paws!  I
really don't want to tap her nose, because I don't want her to be afraid of
us.  Time out in the cage doesn't seem to help much either, and she tries
to bite as we put her in her cage.  It doesn't appear to be fear-biting, as
it starts when she is playing, but she seems to start intentionally going
for hands and then just won't quit.  It's getting to the point that she
draws blood almost every time.
 
I knew it would take some time for her to learn to stop biting, but
after a month, it only seems to be getting worse, not better, and it's
discouraging, although I refuse to give up.  Any suggestions, posted to the
group or private ([log in to unmask]), would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks!
Mary Beth, Kevin, and the biting Daisy
[Posted in FML issue 2727]