Biting

[Hywel 53]

Although I've kept ferrets for the past 26yrs, I've got one at the moment who is testing me to say the least! It was born in April this year and has been with me for about 7 weeks. It is handled twice daily, but still the fecker is biting me When they're young and give you a nip, you can understand, but this one has got it's second teeth now and although most of the time it is a nip, occasionally she has seen it fit to become a permanent fixture on my hand! It's not a lack of handling because I spend a fair bit of time with all my ferrets . Have any of you experienced this and more importantly, have you solved the problem? The way things are, I don't fancy digging to this one next season......

[Kay 3,709]

Although I've kept ferrets for the past 26yrs, I've got one at the moment who is testing me to say the least! It was born in April this year and has been with me for about 7 weeks. It is handled twice daily, but still the fecker is biting me When they're young and give you a nip, you can understand, but this one has got it's second teeth now and although most of the time it is a nip, occasionally she has seen it fit to become a permanent fixture on my hand! It's not a lack of handling because I spend a fair bit of time with all my ferrets . Have any of you experienced this and more importantly, have you solved the problem? The way things are, I don't fancy digging to this one next season......

 

is it a lone kit or part of a group

is it getting its fair share off the food & does it have acess to food 24/7

is it being fed flesh or dry food

[stubby 175]

If I get a biter, when it latches on, I continue to push the finger down its throat, or to the back of the tongue, that makes them gag and let go, if you then start to push your finger into the mouth at every oppotunity, they soon learn that fingers arnt for biting

 

or

 

get yourself some malt paste from the pet shop, they love licking this off ya fingertips, so again learn fingers give nice stuff so dont bite

[Hywel 53]

is it a lone kit or part of a group

is it getting its fair share off the food & does it have acess to food 24/7

is it being fed flesh or dry food

 

The kit is in with one of my Jills

Recently, is fed once a day as lost interest in the other feed and eats plenty - her general condition is excellent

Mainly dry fed at this time of year

[martin 332]

If I get a biter, when it latches on, I continue to push the finger down its throat, or to the back of the tongue, that makes them gag and let go, if you then start to push your finger into the mouth at every oppotunity, they soon learn that fingers arnt for biting

 

or

 

get yourself some malt paste from the pet shop, they love licking this off ya fingertips, so again learn fingers give nice stuff so dont bite

 

 

I would agree,but,what I do is offer the knuckle of my right hand,while holding the ferret with my left hand.And,as the ferret bites,I just give enough pressure to make it gag(be carefull you don't push too hard,and injure the ferret),and this usually stops the biting after a few times.

[Kay 3,709]

I would feed raw meat little & often rather than one meal a day, i assume the kits around the 13 /14 week mark now , as a general rule if theres food left after a feed its getting enough, id the foods gone in my opinion its not getting enough & the amount wants upping till theres a little left

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

It amazes me how so many people seem so well versed and experianced in ways to stop a biting ferret biting.

 

Now, I'm not out to cause a ruck here. I'm not even feintly interested in a discussion on the core matter. I've always operated on my own principles and no ammount of barracking will change those at my stage in the game. Nor am I out to try and convince anyone else Not to smear their hands with what ever they like or stuff what ever they feel like down a biters throat, to what ever degree. It's your ferret. Do as You see fit and get on with it.

 

All I'm in here to say is that I've never in my life bred a biter. I've bought them in at all ages and had them turn out right little b*stards. I've buried the f*cking lot of them in short order and make no apology for it. But I have Never in my life bred a ferret of my own and had it turn out a biter. I used to 'Do' many and various 'Ferret Shows' and was never once hesitant about handing my ferrets to children. My crowning glory - to my mind - being when I handed one to a blind guy to handle. I can see his face in my minds eye now and it still makes me feel damn good.

 

Anyway, ok. So what could ye be doing there, Hywel, that I never did? What sets your kit apart from all those I bred myself? That's what I'm sat here asking myself. Know what? There's only one glaring point here. See; If we accept you dig ferrets up, where as I never did. But I had to trust mine with crowds of strangers? We both require 110% steady ferrets. Snap!

 

You handle yours as much as ye can? Me too. We can't really compare hours per day, obviously. But with 26 years under ye belt and this one throwing ye, ye obviously usually get it right. Probably not that then.

 

Bit that catches my eye though is: " Recently, is fed once a day as lost interest in the other feed and eats plenty - her general condition is excellent. Mainly dry fed at this time of year. " What's that all about, mate?

 

Breaking it down: Why only feed her once a day? Growing things get ravenous. Why not offer her two good feeds a day and a snakette at half time, just to keep her ticking over? I always did. 'FerretLove' seems to be on the same wavelength, look.

 

'Lost interest in the other food' ? What 'other food'? What food? Offered when and in what ammounts? How did ye observe this 'Loss of interest' coming in? That interests me.

 

'Mainly dry fed at this time of year'. Oh. Another one of the converts to That caper, eh? Well, I've made my own views on that shit plain enough, often enough. I'll be dead and gone before too much later and the world can go completely to rat shit as far as I'm concerned. On its way there right now, obviously.

 

But let's just try this one on for size, eh? My way of judging how to care for a ferret is to simply look at nature, right? Wild Polecats. Aside from the fact that I reckon ye'll never trap a polecat in a trap baited with that dry filth. Why would a polecat bite? Answer? Self defence or a desire to kill and eat. Fair comment? I mean, otherwise they'd run around biting f*cking trees, surely?

 

And this ferret is biting You. Ask yeself; Does it fear ye ~ with all that normal level of handling? Or does it feel the need to kill ye and eat ye? And, if it feels the instinctive need to kill ye and eat ye? Why? What is driving that ferret to crave your flesh? Strikes me it could just be that yours is the only flesh the bugger has access to, short of attempted matricide.

 

But I suspect you'll come back to me and say; 'Oh but No, Ditch Shitter; She Lost Interest in the flesh I was offering her! That Was the " other feed " ye asked about! '. Really? Well, if That's the case, I'd want to look at the condition and type of 'flesh' ye were offering her that made her go off that and want Yours instead. Answer could lie there, maybe?

 

Of course, there is one final possibility. Ferret could simply be what, in a human, would be classed as 'stark, raving f*cking mad'. She may just possibly be an insane ferret. A mustalidae psychopath with no inherrant ability to discern right and wrong from inner drives and twisted desires. I doubt it though. I think diet holds the key.

 

 

Anyway; Sorry if I've bored, upset or generally put anyones nose out of joint with that lot. I've just spent about seven hours reading a pretty well constant stream of shit at I moderated the Chat Room. Now I'm unwinding and it's, frankly, been f*cking lovely to just let my mind roam over something of relevance and meaning! Like a ferret, perhaps, condemned to crunching pelleted crap, this one came as a nice, juicy body to get my teeth into!

[Hywel 53]

Thanks for such a comprehensive response Ditch_Shitter . The "other food" I mention is the meal fed in the morning before work, she stopped eating it. I'm prepared to dispose of the dried stuff and try flesh only, if you think it may work, only thing is access to such is thinner on the ground at this time of year Will keep you posted....