Hi all--
I just wanted to give an update on my fine ferrety fellow Cully-- many
people here gave me invaluableadvice on a) getting him to bite people less
and b) getting him to bite Amelia less.  In terms of a), he is somuch better
about biting people, particularly me.  He was a very serious biter, often
drawing blood, so I feel like this is a major achievement.  I got him calmed
down mostly by talking to him-- when I was really frustrated with him he'd
go back in his cage.  Hitting or tapping him just riled him up more, and I
think slow and gentle was the way to go anyway.  On Saturday, I took him for
a walk to the video store -- I was so proud of him!  He was noticably scared
when we walked on a busy street with a lot of noise, but he was very good
and didn't even bite the little girl who pulled on his whole head before I
could stop her.  He also cuddles just a tiny bit now-- especially if I've
just put moisturizer on my hands.  He'll keep slurping it up until I put him
down.  He still tests his boundaries with every single person (thanks to a
now insignificant other, who didn't seem to think that consistency is an
important part of training an animal), but I can testify that there can be
hope for those terrible biters out there.  In Cully's case, he was just
plain scared.
 
In terms of b), attacking Amelia, well, progress is not quite so dramatic,
but it is happening.  I would especially like to thank Debbie Riccio for
emailing me about the post-bath method of integration.  I also agree with
yesterday's post (Gary H., I think) who mentioned putting ferretone or
linatone on the ferrets' necks.  That helped.  But again what I think has
helped most has been sitting with the two ferrets and talking to them
calmly, telling them that they're both good ferrets.  They definitely still
have bad fights, pretty frequently, but they also sometimes appear to be
playing, and they will investigate new bags, etc, side by side.  Two months
ago they wouldn't stay in the same room together without trouble.  Cully
still bites Amelia-- he outweighs her by at least fifty percent-- but he no
longer breaks the skin, so I'm assuming that, as with peopple, he has
learned not to bite her that hard.
 
I brought Cully home in early November, and it's only now on April 1 (no
foolin'!) that I can say with absolute certainty that some major progress
has been made, and that I can foresee a time when the two bugs might really
play together and get along.  So that's five months-- it can take a lot of
time for these things, but if you have a similar situation, don't give up
hope, and remember that the bully might just be really scared and reacting
defensively. There's a sweet cuddly guy under that psycho ferret exterior...
 
Regina
Cully: awwwww....
Amelia: I still wouldn't mind if he left tommorrow though
[Posted in FML issue 1526]