OK OK I'm going to share my secret with the public <G>. How I train my ferrets is not for the faint of heart. Even a very well respected friend of mine who has been "in ferrets" for umpteen years looked at me and said "Oh, now I wouldn't do THAT"! When my kits try to mouth, as any young animal will, I pick them up by the scruff, hiss, and then blow in their face. It makes them lick. Now, you run a risk of being bitten here in the next part. As they are busy licking the air, you must VERY QUICKLY touch their tongue to your lip (or chin if you don't like mouth kisses) and then praise the crap out of them, and then PUT THEM DOWN to play. Do this EVERY TIME a kit wants to bite or nip. Eventually, they will learn that if they want down, to kiss instead of bite. At 6 weeks old, my kits rarely nip. At 8 weeks old, they don't. They hit their terrible twos around ten weeks, and will test that theory, but will again accept that they must indeed give me kisses or else be doomed to be carried forever. Another ferret friend also told me I don't have real ferret kits since mine don't bite. They are now 14 weeks of age, and they have yet to bite. We occasionally get one who is a toe grabber, or wants to mouth wrestle, but you barely know their teeth are there. My babies make me proud :o) . One other important thing, I never put down a biter for biting. This applies to rescues, which plenty of them come through as biters but eventually learn. You just have to be brave and willing to take a bite if you aren't fast enough, and don't have that sixth sense and know you have a bite coming. Kim Wolf Mystyx Samoyeds, Ferrets and Rescue www.geocities.com/mystyx_samoyedsnferrets www.mystyxrescue.petfinder.org [Posted in FML issue 3588]