Unpredictable Demon Of A Jill

[RTurlough 160]

I have a problem and need a quick answer that does NOT include flicking a ferret on the nose or trying to put a knuckle down its throat or even using vinegar anti-bite spray.

 

I have a jill that is a year old. She is an albino that I have (never ever named a ferret before) nicknamed Demon because this is what she is.

 

I give her the best beef and can touch her when she is eating, lift her while she chews and stroke her. All good. I never try to lift her with meat smell or fairy liquid smell on my hands.

 

Now if I try to handle her once I open the hutch.....BOOM!.........straight onto the hand and latches on and foooook me does it hurt. Drawing blood every time! She does not be aggressive while my fingers are on the other side of the wire though, I can even touch her nose. But if I go to lift her water bowl, change bedding, or lift her off the garden lawn.....Boom. She has some bite and after squeezing the shite out of one of my eye-teeth wounds on my finger I am thinking hard now about keeping her but she has some fantastic qualities I want to breed into next years young. Also what kind of a ferreting man would I be if I let go of a problem ferret. The only ferret problem I could never fix was a skulker when I was about 11. God did I hate that ferret. but not as much as I hate Demon!

 

If she gets out of the hutch and is running round the garden I get lured into thinking I can pick her up but every time ......boom.....she bites me and she draws blood.

 

Anyone a solution to stop a jill latching onto me every time. By the way it is not a feeding relfex i.e. open the hutch and food gets thrown in, she came from a hutch with 7 ferrets, all fighting over scraps and has definitely developed to be dominant. I am trying a big hob in with her at the moment to teach her some manners.

 

Here is an example of a biting scenario, I let her go in my kitchen for a bit of midweek exercise, she went mad having loads of fun then jumped up and gripped my shirt, her canines scrapping off my belly, The bite set me back a bit as she went full on to latch on. Our kitchen is a class place for her to run around so you would think she wouldn't be mental and over time would calm. Nope, she is so flippin unporedictable! Guys, how do I break this problem ferrret with fantastic genetic traits!.

Edited December 17, 2016 by RTurlough

[mhopton 807]

Simple really mate just spend more time on the lawn playing gaining her trust she will come round soon enough I've kept 3 Jill's from a litter I bred this year I've got two what's doing the same I broke other one by jut spending time with her , good look and watch your fingers

[neil b 2,264]

Firstly I wouldn't be breeding off it for starters, I had a kit this years bred handled twice a day every day but no matter what I did all it wanted to do was bite needless to say we parted company, if your in a working situation you need to be 100%confident you can pick them up without losing a finger or two

[Sirblessed 2,511]

First you need to work out if it’s biting out of fear, aggression, or mentally disturbed (inbred) If its fear spend time handling, and playing as much as you can, use gloves until you can touch her without biting. be gentle (don’t listen to people who will tell you, not to use gloves at the start on a grown vicious ferret, NO reason not to they talk shit) If it’s out of Aggression you need to dominate her until she understands you are the boss (many methods of doing this) I normally let them bite the side of my finger hold them by the neck and push my finger hard toward the back of their mouth until they release, you can scruff them and hold them down too won’t take long at all before you gain her respect otherwise she is mental. A.T.B with her -- sb

[Frolicking Ferrets 33]

I have a jill that's like this, the cause of this unwanted behaviour is just the jill being territorial. Get her out with a glove then after closing her hutch take the glove off and handle her normally, she should be fine then. Failing that, lather your hands in hand sanitizer, they hate the smell and the taste so she'll not likely bite if she can smell that on you.

[The one 8,398]

As said put as much time and effort in as you can with the jill , but its going to be you that calls time so have a good hard think about what you want to do .Myself i wouldnt breed from her what are you going to do if she passes this trait on to her kits . as said only you can call time you can work away with her and when she comes out a burrow you can tail her to get her back in the box but what if shes got a rabbit in a dead end your in two minds about sticking your hand in there straight off you know shes going to nail you . I think i would try giving her as much work as i could even if you know a burrows empty let her run threw it seeing if burning off her energy helps then if shes no better get a new kit in and start from scratch in the spring

[micky 3,325]

seems to me that you are as scared of her as she is of you, keep calm ,be gentle and she will turn it around, they always do.

[Guest vin]

I had one like this early in the year off a mate who had not handled her.... she was a complete nutter. . . straight out of the bedding box and right at your fingers as soon as you opened hutch up..try and put your hand in to move anything around and she would nail it good and proper.. I came close a few times but bit my tongue and kept trying to win her over. In the end i dropped her in a hutch with a young hob that was full of beans and relentlessly wanting to play/fight etc etc... after a few days she was begging me to handle her and let her out of the hutch to get away from the crazy hob...lol. . . I kept letting her out into the safety and calm of my warm hands for 5 mins and then dropping her back in with young crazy boy.. he would be jumping on her and dragging her all over the place while she protested and tried to fight him off...the more she fought the more he loved it..lol.

 

She is now in with my old hob and they are happy chappys . . . she,s calmed down 100% and the young hob also learned a few hard lessons and had turned out very well.

 

My older hob would not have had the same effect though... she would have tried dominating him and being a typical bloke he would have let her...lol.

[RTurlough 160]

Many would say don't breed her. To tell you the truth, I can't wait to see the kits from this Jill, she is a pure greyhound and if I could work her would cut my ferreting time in half although I might have to dig her more than a few of my other Jills which would be that bit more placid and less aggressive in holding onto or killing a rabbit.

 

When it comes to breeding her, I have kept ferrets for over 26 years and never had a ferret that nails its handler on opening a hutch. I have people who say put a knuckle into her mouth I say......ok pick that ferret up first.......how do you pick up a mini bear-trap.

 

So here is why I want to keep pushing on with her.

 

First it makes me a better ferreting man to have this experience in breaking a 'Demon'.

 

She is a super fast greyhound and kits handled would be absolutely smashing especially if I put her under my smallest hob.

 

Lastly, she is my favourite out of all my Jills because animals are becoming so domesticated these days it is nice to see one with its own agenda, I just gotta tame that a wee bit and give her so much work she knows what she is for.

 

But as for the gloves, that is a great idea. I have tried gloves but will have to go thicker. I am over feeding her for the next fortnight to see if I can slightly dampen the fire, but not too much. Just great quality beef cutlets with a nice layer of fat. I have also pushed a ton of hay into her box and her run is over fresh mountain grass so her living quarters are top notch. She is no longer competing for food too. I guess if I have time on my hands and the art of association such as handling her gently while she is chewing a nice lump of beef, lifting her slightly and stroking her, this is exactly what she needs.

[TOMO 24,900]

2.2

[Moja 111]

Cull or welding glove!

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

Handle. Handle. Then handle it some more.

 

Blood will be shed. But that's the only way. Or knock it on the head and start again.

[rabbit demon 301]

When your handling her, make sure she no hungry, pick her up and put her down and just keep repeating that process over and over any time your spending with her. Iv a resue and she was a nightmare for biting. You want to get wee tiny bits of meat and let her eat off the back of your hand to start with, when your confident shes no going to eat the meat and then latch on start her eating out the palm of your hand, then from out of you fingers. I never wear gloves nip training ferrets, kits or adults because at some point the gloves are going to have to come off. If its still biting hard after a few months intense handling id cull it.

[ZeusPolecat 185]

This only really works if they have a play area - a run or a room that they don't have access to all the time. A treat playtime area of sorts, that they only get access to for a limited time a day or so.

Keep a cat carrier or carry box handy and have all the ferrets out for a romp. Get in with them and make it look as fun as possible. If she bites for whatever reason, lock her in the carrier for 3-5 minutes. Helps if she can see the other ferrets having a blast without her. After shes served her time, manually take her out and let her join the fun... but if she bites again, back in. The standard jail term that is used on humans. It clicks eventually. But you will need to take the bites to do it.

Edited December 17, 2016 by ZeusPolecat

[micky 3,325]

This only really works if they have a play area - a run or a room that they don't have access to all the time. A treat playtime area of sorts, that they only get access to for a limited time a day or so.

 

Keep a cat carrier or carry box handy and have all the ferrets out for a romp. Get in with them and make it look as fun as possible. If she bites for whatever reason, lock her in the carrier for 3-5 minutes. Helps if she can see the other ferrets having a blast without her. After shes served her time, manually take her out and let her join the fun... but if she bites again, back in. The standard jail term that is used on humans. It clicks eventually. But you will need to take the bites to do it.

NEVER READ OWT AS DAFT AS THIS IN MY LIFE