Hi, I run a mailing list exclusively about ferrets. Do you want to join? Your question is something discussed many times.... Anyways, to your question - it seems to me that he simply realized that he could get away with mayhem. People who you ask to care for your ferret should realize that he's more than tough enough to survive the occasional rough handling, and should have his nose batted or rump swatted (gently of course) whenever he steps out of line. A "safer" way is to yell "NO!", or pick him up. Our ferret occasionally nips socks (with feet in them), but we just pick her up and chastise her. A ferret that bites hard enough to hurt must be corrected. Ours nip a lot, but never hard enough to hurt. None of ours have ever drawn blood. She's good at holding on though. Other ferret toys? - mailing tubes big enough to run through. (or 4" plastic pipe) - plastic golf balls (the hollow ones with holes). Tough ones! - latex rubber squeaky dog toys. We find that the cat toys (eg: polystyrene golf balls with bells in them) are too fragile for a ferret. One crunch and bye-bye! [Posted in FML 0082]