I recently received a Ferret as a Christmas present from my soon-to-be wife. We planned on getting one after we were married, but she found an absolutely adorable one and couldn't pass up the bargain which included a cage, food, dish, water bottle, book, litter-pan and Ferretone all for $179 (is that a good price?). Anyway, she's a female neutered and descented from Marshall Farms. We call her Nibbles because she likes to nibble anything she can get her jaws on, cheeks, fingers, toes and the like. We don't mind her nipping a little when she's playing, but she seems to nip almost all the time. If we are holding her, she'll twist to nip our hands. If she can't get our hand she'll nip herself. We want to try to calm down her nipping habit. The book we got suggested a tap on her nose and a sharp "No" when she nips. The Ferret FAQ suggests a similar approach, but says if it doesn't work you might end up doing it too much and she'll equate being around you with something bad. Our Vet suggested a water sprayer (kind of like what you do with cats). Does anybody know which of these is the better approach (or even have a different one), when we should do it and how long before we should expect some results? A poster on Rec.Pets on the USENET News system gave information that IAMS kitten food contains a preservative that could be toxic to ferrets. The poster immediately stopped feeding her ferret Iams. I talked to my vet last night and she said it is a controversial topic and that it has not been substantiated. Also, that the amount needed to be harmful to ferrets is a lot more than she would get in her daily feedings. Upon inspection of Science Diet, the vet found the presrvative in Science Diet as well. Is this all speculation and no cause for concern? We feed Nibbles Iams but will stop if it endangers her health. Last question, for now. :) We give our fuzzy four pumps of Ferretone in her food bowl every day as well as using it as a treat to reinforce litter training and better behavior. The bottle of Ferretone suggested the four pumps a day (one pump is a decent amount too), but it could just be a way to get you to use it all and buy more. The Ferret FAQ suggested that Ferretone contains Vitamin-A which could be harmful or even fatal in large amounts. It also suggests only a few drops a day. Are we over using the Ferretone and endangering our little fuzzy (who is only 9 weeks old BTW)? It's hard to tell what information is accurate and what is not. Thanks for any help you can give, Jim Makowski (And Nibbles too) [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1051]