>Bob, I had one biter that was seemingly ... well impossible for me to >touch due to the severe biting. I just could not do it ... blood, >tearing, not letting go, etc. I was only 16 at the time. My mother got >pet handling gloves for me from the rehab center nearby. I used them >for a while first. It gave me confidence, and made me extremely calm >around the biter which in turn calmed them. Before things seemed to go >in circles despite the fact that I was doing everything else right. The >ferret could sense my tears, could sense my tensing, fear, etc. It was >like a viscous circle ya know? The gloves changed everything. I had >them off in no time. What are you thoughts in extreme circumstances ... >with the limited use of gloves? Wolfy I posted a few days ago about the three biters I took in. I would like to thank everyone for their letters and advice. Yesterday I proceeded with my little biting rehab program as per a lot of the advice I recieved. I was getting more calm and confident in dealing with it. I can tell the three are DEFINITLY interested in me and in trying to work this out in their ferret fashion. They follow me around and want to play. They want to walk on me and sniff around. I have to be careful not to make sudden moves yet keep them controlled. The one Kami , who is the worst biter,came onto the bed. He did his carpet shark thing under the sheet. I stroked him and played with him as he scurried under the sheets. The sheets were tight so he could not get a grip on me, but he LOVED being played with in this way. He would occasioanlly poke his head out and look at me as if to say "more" I said to myself AH HA !.. this is great !... I figured I could use this as one method with them. I was 'touching' them , in a way that was not threatening to them . Well Kami comes out from under the sheet, walks over to me and climbs on my shoulder. I gave him a treat. and told him playtime was over. I put him on the floor. He came back on the bed, I did not see him come back up. I was lying down reading. Suddenly , in a split second, he clamped onto my bottom lip/. he hung and would not let go. I had to pinch his nose so he would take a breath a let go.I really had to control myself not to hit or flick at him. The long and short of it is I had such a bad bite I had to get 3 stiches on my lip. One thing I have noticed is that the former owners seemed to have trained them TO BITE. Kami wanted to continue the play and when I said it was enough... he bit hard . If they do not get their way, they bite. If they want to play they do not know how to mouth , they bite. They do not play nip moving feet like the other ferrets do, they bite. Bite hard and hang on. I believe that the former owners inadvertently encouraged them to bite, along with bad treatment and possibly hitting them,spraying bitter apple at them.Biting seems to be their response to almost everything. At times they fear bite, but then again they often bite hard as they seem not to know better. Any ideas on this?. I still scruff them and talk frimly and gently if they make a biting motion to me( but do not actually bite). I give time out in the carrier ( not the cage).Reward good behavior with treats. Christine [Posted in FML issue 4104]