Ferret help?

louisey405

I've had a ferret now for a few days and shes gorgeous. friends of mine found her asleep in their compost bin so i've decided to take her. everything is going well, shes getting used to us more and more as the days go by.
when i first met her i got some bite from her but since bringing her to the vet for a check up i know now that it was just a defensive bite or out of fear. she hasn't bit like that since but when i try to play with her she nips (which i know is the norm) but she bites too hard and leaves some marks.

I'm wondering if anyone can help me with this as its my first ferret and I don't want to get it wrong. She bit me yesterday in play (im assuming she was just playing) but she got too rough and I said 'NO' and I gave her a small tap on the nose (was just a reaction) but she seemed to bite harder then and didn't let go until i almost had to pull her off my hand.

Is that her getting aggressive or just thinking im playing rough?? and if so can someone suggest maybe a different way of doing it? Is scruffing acceptable if she bites like that? I would just agree with what ''lexie karas'' said about saying NO and pulling my hand away but what she did yesterday would have made doing that very difficult as she didn't just bite once and then stop, she sort of kept 'knawing' my wrist. I dont like disciplining her by flicking her nose but i'm confused as some people say its ok and some don't. So any advice would be great.

Oh p.s , she's fully grown.

Lexie_Karas

Heya, first of all well done on taking in the stray ferret!! They are amazing pets once they're properly trained!

There's a few differant reasons why your ferret may be biting. Firstly it could be fear, as you don't know what her background is you've know way of knowing what her previous experience is with being handled. If it's fear the important thing is to not give her any more reason to fear you. Give her plenty of time to settle in before you start to handle her... if you absolutely must lift or handle her for some reason try bribing her with a little olive oil on your hand first so she's being rewarded for licking your hand and so that she associates your hand with good things (olive oil is a great treat in small doses and most ferrets love it). Leave her be as much as possible and let her decide if and when she wants to approach you.

Another reason could be that she just isn't practised when it comes rough play with humans. When ferrets play with each other they bite fairly hard and it can sometimes appear quite savage but they're tough skinned so it doesn't bother them, then when they get excited and try play with us they don't realise that our hands are much more fragile! If a ferret is rough playing and is nipping harder than you like (they will nip when playing, but idealy its nothing more than them placing thier teeth on your skin without any pressure) the best course is to say NO very firmly and stop playing for a minute. If that means getting up and moving away from the ferret so your hand is out of reach so be it. A giddy playful ferret will very soon learn that if they bite hard the game ends. It can take an awful long time to nip train a ferret and the key is consistancy. With some ferrets they'll be hand friendly with in a few days others can take weeks, and unfortunately it does mean having to cope with a few sore fingers between now and then. There is no quick fix, especially if you're dealing with a possibly nervous ferret... anything stronger than that may make her hand shy which wont help the biting situation at all.

You say she's fully grown, any idea on age? Has the vet checked if she's been spayed? Spaying is very important for female ferrets. When they come into season they can't come out of it on thier own. They'll stay in season untill they mate or untill a vet gives them an injection called the Jill Jab. If a female ferret is left in season for too long she can become very ill and even die, so it is an important thing to be aware of.

Do you mind me asking what you're feeding her and what sort of bedding etc you have for her? Sometimes new ferret owners can be at a bit of a loss as to what a ferret may or may not need

I was also wondering if you've put up any posters saying that you've found her? Where abouts are you based? There could be an owner out there somewhere looking for her. You could also ring around any local vets and rescues and ask if any lost ferrets have been reported missing and leave a contact number in case someone comes looking. Did you vet check if she was micro-chipped? Not all ferrets are but you never know, I had my boys chipped.

I'm going to pm you a couple of links to some ferret forums aswell, they're great for feedback and support!

louisey405

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. really appreciate it.

She's fine with handling. I'd be sitting on the couch and she'd come up and crawl all over me so it isnt really an issue. and also she'l take food from my hand i havent been biten, not yet anyway lol.
We had the room 'ferret proofed' so theres no worry there and we keep her cage in the room so she has access to her bed, food/water and her litter tray (which she now uses no problem:))

Were feeding her ferret food which we got in a pet shop and she's sleeping in a small dog bed. its sort of 'cave' shapped thing so its dark enough and she has a towl in it aswel to get under. she seems to love it so i think thats ok.

I've been doing alot of research on caring for a ferret and there needs and such and i heard about the spaying problem but when we brought her to the vet he said that it is almost impossible to check if shes been spayed unless he opens her up. he said shes in good shape and gave her something for fleas but never checked to see if she was chipped.
We'l be going back at some stage to follow up the spayed issue and i'l get him to check her then for a chip.

Our friends live up near Rathdrum, near Glendalough and are surrounded by fields and forests etc. to be honest i dont know whether or not they rang around or went to their local vet but there massive animal lovers and one thing they did say was that they wouldn't be keen on checking with their neighbours because there not the kindest of owners but i'l get in touch with my friend and see what the story is.

so you wreakon that just saying NO and moving away from her would be enough to get her to stop?
but what if its the case that saying NO doesnt make her stop biting me and i cant get my hand away??

Lexie_Karas

It sounds like she really just doesn't know yet where the boundary is between rough play and hurting you... it that's all it is it should be easy enough to fix. Did you get my pm with the links? My best advice is to have a look at the UK link I sent you and look for NormaJ's post about nip training in the FAQ section... its really quite detailed. Then if you still have any questions pop them into the Talk Ferrets section, there'll be people there who have dealt with exactly the problem you have many times over and they'll be able to give you advice for pretty much any scenario!

It sounds like she's settling in quick... and you're lucky that she's using the litter tray so soon, sounds like she was litter trained before. One small suggestion I'd make would be to swap the towel for a fleecey blanket... the little loops that towels can have are the perfect size for catching thier nails in... and that can be quite upsetting for a ferret, I've also heard of a few that have broken toes and damaged nails after getting themselves tangled up in something like that. Otherwise it sounds like you have it all under control!

louisey405

i'l definitely do that! thanks for telling me!

Thanks for everything:)

Chiaki

hey join this place its pretty cool for ferret qs www.irishferretforum.proboards.com plus you can post pics of your fuzzle.

Lexie_Karas

Hey Chiaki,

It's Alexia here, I got there before ya :P All ready pm'ed her the link!

Chiaki

hey alexia!

Cinnomen

Hi, I'm sure you have some useful replies above but I wanted to dd my bit!
I have two ferrets, one called Bradley and one Squiggle, Squiggle I got as a baby Bradley was a rescue my vets had had brought in.
It is normal for the ferrets to bite when they are young and you need to spend the time to let them know its wrong, the thing is ferrets have a lot tougher skin then us so when they play with you they do not realize it hurts us so bad.

I know you said your ferret is fully grown but there is a chance she could have been a working/hunting ferret rather then a handled pet ferret who was around people and had the comfort of the home everyday.
This also could mean that all she knows when biting is getting the rabbits she may have had very little human contact sadly thats something you will never know.
If she missed the training stage in her life it isn't to late, I had the same problem with Bradley, gosh that little tinker used to bite.

The most effective thing I found was to scruff gently as you mentioned, then they should let go, sometimes they will hold on for a second then think...ooops mums mad! You see this is what their mums would do to keep them in line, scruff and then hiss.
The best method I found was scruff, hiss for a second and then gently whilst still scuffing pull them along the carpet, this sounds mean I know but this is something Ive seen them do and read they do to dominate, the pulling along gently lets them know you are boss as they are in a submissive position at the time.

If they are real bad then time out is needed, pick them straight up and back in the cage, she will soon realize its not allowed.
It will take time and patience and sadly a few more bites before you get there but believe me you will.
Don't bother buying bitter apple sprays etc that are for sale out there, in my years of experience these do not work!
Good luck you will get there, and congrats on the wonderful new addition! Sorry if I have echoed other replies that will teach me to be lazy and not read them!! lol.