I see Gerri neglected to tell you of my tortureous techniques I impose on these sweet little imps. :-) Squirt is a little angel compared to the new boys. Onyx and Dippy are apprentice angels, and Dante, well let's just say he hasn't quite reached either status yet. When the boys first arrived, Squirt's eyes got big and she looked up at me as if to say "What the heck are these and why are they here in my house????" Dante's teeth are sharp and big. His biting was quite innocent though quite painful to me. My fingers, hands and arms sport scratches and piercings. Soooo because Dante chooses to be stubborn about the entire no-bite-hard lessons, we moved on to apple cider vinegar. I placed a baby jar on the counter, half filled with vinegar, added a handful of q-tips and waited for the fun to begin. It wasn't long before Dante tracked me down and excitedly bit my hands as I picked him up. I did the usual no-bite pointy finger method which he promptly grabbed onto with no intention of letting go anytime soon. I grimaced, balanced him under my arm and reached with great glee for the vinegar saturated q-tip! As the q-tip slowly came closer, this sweet innocent unsuspecting victim continued to happily gnaw on my fingers.... slowly, ever so slowly, like a slow motion movie the q-tip came closer and closer until I was at his mouth. He noticed the q-tip and turned and clamped down on it. Ah hah I got you I cried out. Dante shook his head, spitting and sneezing - all over my face I'd like to add, and acted like I'd just given him that horrible Flagyl! He grabbed the q-tip himself! Dante was scrambling to get down so I set him down on the floor and he headed right for my ankles (oh by the way my ankles look very similar to my hands and arms as I refuse to wear long pants when it is hot), so I swiped the q-tip around my ankles right before he lunged for that very tender area of flesh. As soon as Dante got close enough and smelled the vinegar he started spitting and sneezing again, this time without tasting the vinegar! Now when Dante bites too hard, I swipe a q-tip across the area he is biting and he quickly retracts. So you see, the ferrets pay a very high price for living with me. :-) Leo is a bully. When I tried the vinegar saturated q-tip with him after he pestered someone to screaching mode, he tried to EAT the q-tip and as I pulled it away from him he was lunging for it with great intent to swallow it hole! No accounting for taste with these little ones. Onyx and Dippy took a bit to warm up to Dante because he was so rough. Now they romp, tussel, tube, wrestle as best friends. Squirt has calmed more that the boys are here and she plays with them a bit but when they get too rough she heads for safer ground. Of course a game of chase ensues but Squirt is smaller and more agile and can easily out-manuever these clumsy boys. Not so for the older ferrets so I'm on constant watch to make sure they youngsters don't pester oldsters. Rambo is not sure about the boys. Before they came, Squirt and Rambo were quite the pair. Their energy level was fairly matched even though Rambo is several years older than youngster Squirt. Poor Rambo, his true love has others of her own age now and he often isn't included in the games. :-( I've noticed Rambo has put on a few ounces as he's drowning his heartache in the recipe bowl.... Gerri did an excellent job on calming Onyx, Dippy, and Squirt's biting tendencies. hugs to all. tle [Posted in FML issue 5368]