advice on ferret biting

[pappabear 128]

hi all just thought i would give you an update

 

we went and got our hobs brother to keep him company and since then they have both been fairly good , they get on fine and only seem to squabble when both want the same piece of meat , they have a bowl of james wellbeloved ferret biscuits that is topped up twice aday and meat in the evenings for when they go back after a playabout in the kitchen for about half an hour

 

i was told to try spitting on the back of my hand and letting them lick it off but my smokers breath must put them off because they have a good sniff and then carry on exploring so i have ordered some ferret malt paste and hopefully they will start to associate hands as good things as they do still try to bite when picked up and they do climb up your leg to bite the back of our calves but luckily they havent drawn blood by doing this yet

 

the main problem is returning them to their hutch as they turn around quick and either have ago or try getting out we give them a raw chicken wing (£2 a kilo from tesco ) when we put them back but they drop that when put down any advice welcome

[muddy210 34]

in all the years of keeping ferrets one thing that can be taken for granted is that once the hutch/court door is open they will try to get out. as for going for your hands once you have put them back into there hutch quickly make your hand to a fist this wont stop them going for you but it gives them less to latch onto. i have a treat ball in my hutch that when i am taking one fert out or 2 then i need to keep the others in i fill the treat ball up give it a rattle then throw it in with the remainders this usually gets them away from the door so i can shut it. they in my opinion allways want to be out of the hutch where possible and learning how to trick your own is something that you will have to suss coz there all different i have some that want to come out as soon as see youand others who just wait to be picked up but each and every one is different but as they are still youngsters youve still got somefun to come with them as said before just keep handleing them and if poss feed them soley on meat pref rabbit theyjust take time some more than others atb muddy

[barry lurcher 27]

as some of the lads have said its probably havent been handled that much and of course new surroundings will upset ferrets ,new smells ,different noises etc, u have gotta gain there trust which wont be hard ,let him settle then as some have said feed him let him scoff the lot then try putting your hand near him [back of hand until u trust him!] , that malt paste is good let him lick some from the tube and when u know he really wants it rub some over your hands back first of course , let him come to you and lick your hands , another product is called ferretone they go bonkers for this belive me!!!!!! , its about 11 quid for 435g bottle its worth it if you gotta ferret this age and want to train it quick , then try hand feeding it with chunks of meat let it take it off u show it that the hand is something that feeds it not something to bite ,mine are all hand fed for many months , and i always feed em titbits from the hand and once you have gained there trust handle them as much as possible , i dont mean just at feeding times ! theres an old saying u only get out wat u put in , i think this applys to ferrets very much , interact with them [play] for an hr a day if you can have them running around you in the room it all helps they will be fine, all the very best of luck with them regards paul

[Adam13 4]

They need handled when they are young or they will practically bite forever

[ryballnben 22]

be nice and slow around them open the door let them smell your hand a little till they get bored then slowly touch them i find with kitts personally the more ther are in the cage the more they bite with excitement/anxiety i split mine personally till around eight months and never had any real trouble just be slow and consistent,ATB

[superfurryanimal 91]

well handled ferrets should never bite ! whether they're by the cage door or not ! the reason ferrets nip or bite is because they've not been handled enough, simple ! it drives me mad when i hear people say they can't handle ferrets because they're nippy ! my fourteen year old daughter regularly feeds mine, some hutches with four jills in, all coming to the door at once ! you may get the odd one that can't be tamed, but really if you don't put the time in handling them from a young age and every day after what do you expect a.t.b sfa

[ferret100 47]

Ferrets Formula is my way of getting the ferts to behave themselves, they go mad for it. Used for nip training, nail clipping and as a distraction when needs be. Can get it on Ebay, better value than the other products and much better for them. Hope your ferts come round quick for you. Atb.

[pappabear 128]

had the ferrets out in the kitchen last night and they were actually brilliantly behaved apart from climbing our legs and trying to bite through our trousers , the malt paste i ordered from ebay was definately a hit with them they loved it and whilst they were licking the back of our hands didnt mind being picked up , i put a tiny bit of the paste in the hutch before putting them back with their chicken and they went in as good as gold , i know its early days but it did feel good handling them without gloves and them not minding , thanks for everyones advice

[The one 8,398]

I don't know where you got your ferret from so this isn't a dig at anybody. But there's too many people breeding kits and simply no putting the time in with them ,on the odd occasions i have kits i run them on till they look like adults ferret and my kids play with them every day when folk come for a kit they get a nice sized ferret they can handle no nipping wriggling about etc as all the ground work has been started in earnest . Being honest if i went to see kits and they where biting i would walk away i certainly wouldn't be bring one home .It sounds like the basic handling needing done as kit wasn't done and your suffering now . Keep up the good work and handle ,handle and more handle you might get a odd nip but you will get there in the end

[B.P.R 2,798]

All my ferrets are soft as shite with me and the baby. They don't particularly like the missus and I think it's because she's terrified of them. She holds them and she's shaking yet anybody else that's confident is fine. They must be able to sense it.

I had a big hob that latched onto my mate but wouldnt bite me. Went away for a few days and the daft mother in law let it out and it bit the baby! So that had to go straight away with the deal being I could get kits and get them trained with everybody so the missus could handle them confidently. From day one I had these with the baby, even in his cot and he loved them and vice versa. All I done was first time they thought about biting I stuck my finger in their mouth. Two days later and they're as soft as teddies! Tried it one more time when they were about 5 months old and I done te same but a lot harder and they got the message. Be cruel to be kind. I trust these with the baby and dogs. I even had to use rake aboot's ferret when out ferretingto nip the pup to teach it a lesson as mine just played with the pup when I didn't want that.

 

Went to a ferret show and got disqualified because they tried to bite the judge but was fine with her when I was there? Also somebody broke into my hutch(sorted the Cnuts out) and the ferrets bit them badly, so bad that they left them as fecked off, and that was from his own mouth( before I shut it haha).

 

I keep 3 hobs and a jill, all neutered. Around 4 months old I notice the hobs had bad cuts on the nape of their neck and the Jill was taking a battery too so had them all chopped. Better having a few to keep them active.

 

[B.A. 2]

just keep handling every single day for at least 15-20 mins. distract with one hand and pick up with the other holding index finger and thumb round its neck and other three fingers under front legs (around ribs) so it can't turn round and bite....it'll be OK after a couple of weeks, just needs to get used to you and your son

Thats the method that worked for me as well

[Rake aboot 4,929]

They need handled when they are young or they will practically bite forever

 

No they won`t just keep at it and they will come good mate,, handle handle then handle them some more,,

 

ATB

[muddy210 34]

as rake aboot says handle handle and handle some more

[barry lurcher 27]

well handled ferrets should never bite ! whether they're by the cage door or not ! the reason ferrets nip or bite is because they've not been handled enough, simple ! it drives me mad when i hear people say they can't handle ferrets because they're nippy ! my fourteen year old daughter regularly feeds mine, some hutches with four jills in, all coming to the door at once ! you may get the odd one that can't be tamed, but really if you don't put the time in handling them from a young age and every day after what do you expect a.t.b sfa

this is spot on a+

[pappabear 128]

thanks for all the advice they are coming on good so far the only thing we need to stop now is them climbing our legs as they bite to get extra grip ( i think anyway) , both me and the boy are more confident and the ferrets love the malt paste so hopefully things will just keep getting better , once again many thanks for all the advice