very aggresive ferret

dodderangler

hi lads
i recently got a 1 year old buck ferret for hunting its been a week and my hand is in bits i open his hutch and he nearly launches himself at me i do wear a falconers glove and hes bitten right thru it i know may sound wrong but il end up ringin its neck
any advice to stop him bitin and bein aggresive
cheers

rowa

If he hasn't been handled in the first year of his life there might be a problem, he isn't used to it and doesn't like it, maybe castration might cool him down ? Any ferrets i had for rabbiting were always small does, easier to handle and don't have the strength to hold a rabbit like the bucks can.

djflawless

+1 on that
theres a way ive heard but your boy could be too old for it. .the mother would usually grab the scruff of the kits and shake them. .something got to do with disciplining them. .you could always try anyway. .but i suppose be gentle enough

steyrman2

Hi unless there handled from a young age there hard to tame down i had one a few years ago i got for breeding a fine big buck that hissed and spit at me and you would have to wait from him to be well clear of the burrow i tryed everything with him welding gloves chainmail glove but nothing would work . He would wait in the back of the hutch as soon as you put your hand in he would burst me open once he had done his job i got rid of him

rabbit assassin

Falconers glove = bad idea.... The ferret sees this as food because of its smell !! He will be sure to attack and bit then !

Spunk84

Grab him by the back of the neck as if his neck was a bottle, he won't be able to bite u. Don't stick ur hand in unless u want a bite!!! Also if u can get a spray bottle and put alchol in it and the time he does it spray him on the nose, few times that should cure him. With taming as it was mentioned above unless he was handled as a kit then it will be a journey to calm him. Best thing to do is like I said just grab him by the neck and pet him when u can..... Get rid of the gloves as well,he needs to smell u everything u pick him up. Buck ferrets are usual better behaved than Jill's so u might get him calmed down quicker..... If he locks on you as well don't pull him off, pinch ur 2 fingers in the intents behind his ears!!!! They usual release pretty quickly

dicky82

dodderangler wrote: »

hi lads
i recently got a 1 year old buck ferret for hunting its been a week and my hand is in bits i open his hutch and he nearly launches himself at me i do wear a falconers glove and hes bitten right thru it i know may sound wrong but il end up ringin its neck
any advice to stop him bitin and bein aggresive
cheers

i recently had the same issue with a very very aggressive jill, the only thing that worked for me was perseverance, lots of little bits of handling. also handle when they've just woken up or after they've fed, less energy to be wasting on biting you.

other things you can try is to have something foul tasting on your hands, vinegar, wd40 or something like that.
i got lots of tips on 'thehuntinglife.com' 'ferret forum' its mostly english lads on it and there is alot of tripe on it but there are some good lads on it too that will have some good advise.

bare in mind too that due to the seasons being a little bit hay wire there is a chance that your hob could be coming into season, my hob is showing signs of it at the minute.

if none of this works you could always bite him back??:D

4200fps

If he bit me id bottle feed him Jif lemon

clivej

Lead pill comes to mind

transit260

this may not go down well with some but I would put the ferret to sleep,it isnt worth the trouble or effort and you will never be 100% safe with a ferret that cross.This all stems from a bad upbringing,either the previous owner was too lazy,too scared or too inexperienced to rear it properly.I have being keeping ferrets for over 30 years and only a very few times have experienced cross ferrets.I just dont tolerate them.In my opinion the ferret is launching into attack for two reason only,distrus and fear of the human.Just picture the ferret with a rabbit in a stop end,you have to run your hand in to extract the rabbit and the ferret is siting tight on his ass,you may get more than just the rabbit.Doderangler,if in a few weeks time you havent found a decent ferret,let me know and I'll sort ye out with some good stock.Tame and reliable in the field and ferret hutch.


heres my daughter with some of mine and heres the results in the field

as It should be.Anyway personally,its not worth all the time and pain to try and get the ferret tame.put it to sleep and start again.also the season is almost over for most so I would concentrate on next years stock.Just my opinion,sorry if it upsets anyone but thats just how I see it.

transit260

I could manage to tame a biter too but I wouldnt bother,as the easy way out as you say is to use a tamer ferret,how long in your opinion would you say it would take to quieten a very agressive ferret?I would suggest weeks if not many months.Then my opinion is why bother?I look on my ferrets as workers out and out.I do treat them well and work them lots but if they dont suit me I will not keep them.I leave that to those who want to put the effort in,its just too time consuming.That certainly does make you a far superior and more patient man than me and I admit that without reservation.I have a team of ferrets and havent bought a ferret in many years so its not a situation I have had to deal with in yonks,but if I had to I wouldnt waste my time.as for runing my hand up to a rabbit,I do and have done many a time and would be confident enough that if the ferret bit it would release immediately once realising it was not of the furry kind he was tackeling.I dont think you could say that about a half ferral ferret.As I said it wont be agreeable to others but their not worth the effort of trying for weeks to tame one ferret.Just my view on it.

Cass

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