Need Advice

[hurricanekatt]

So I am (surprisingly!) very close to convincing my mom to agree to adopt the little biter at the pet store! :O What is a miracle is the fact that my dad (who usually absolutely negates any more pets) is OPEN to the idea...!!!! I mentioned it casually to my mom, thinking hey worth a shot, but probably won't go anywhere. But she really is seriously considering this idea! AND she's reading up on ferrets, asking about raw diets (YES!!!!) and well, it might actually happen!

SO here is where I need some advice... I want to approach the store and see if they will let me take the ferret (who is a female btw - pics to come! ) for free, or at the LEAST for a decreased fee. We got Shane's "vicious" corn snake for free, but my roommate was working there at the time and was the one who told me the store was willing to rehome him for free. She doesn't work there anymore. So for those of you who have dealt with this before, how do you go about approaching this issue? How do you start that conversation? (with a manager obviously)

An update on the little ferret. I went to visit her again today because my mom was demanding pics. lol She is a she, and has been there about a month. Was 6-8 weeks old when she got there (6 weeks?! UGH! No wonder she bites! ). She looks similar in colorings to her cage mates (none of whom made any move to bite me). The way I picked her out today was by "fishing" - I dangled my hand into the cage into the middle of a gaggle of curious babies, she latched on, and I pulled my hand out with vicious-baby-ferret attached. I played with her a bit and she obviously responds to positive treatment. She wasn't nearly as bitey as yesterday! But I still have some new punctures from her. She does NOT like to be scruffed and will lash out if you try, but she responds to having a hand stuffed into her mouth. ;D
(for new-readers' sakes this is NOT me shoving my hand down her gullet, this means that when she bites me, instead of pulling away and thus inciting her escaping-prey instincts, I push my hand deeper into her mouth GENTLY until she spits it out)

She spits out pretty quickly that way and goes ooo ugh don't like that! Let's do something else! Until a few seconds later she forgets and tries again. She likes ferretvite - gave her a little of that to get some pics. I needed some more for my boys anyways... (Or rather, THEY are convinced they need more haha). I think she sees hands a prey to be honest... She'll make a good little hunter! (My mom was SO asking about whole prey. YAAAAY!) She bites and grinds, and does NOT let go. Unless of course you shove your hand into her little maw, she doesn't like that too much. ;D But then it is HER idea to spit it out. I can tell she's a little alpha!

Here's some pics!!!! (had to build the suspense)








(This was right before she bit my finger haha see the teeth coming out?)


(finger IN the mouth)






yeah, mostly blurry sorry. The reluctant store clerk isn't a very good picture taker, I wish I'd had Shane with me, he knows the drill lol




Still from a video I took (that isn't loading )

[Heather]

She has a very hard look about her. She's going to be work. Is your parents up to this?
The way I deal with the pet store is that I"m offering them a service to rehab the little one. They don't need a biter, there are issues that the kit might indeed be returned and there is always the line that they already knew this little one had problems so they're responsible. You have to be prepared to walk away. I did with Minion. His prolapse was the end for them. They had managed to place the other 4 kits, all horrific biters ...so that wasn't a total concern with them. It will depend on how much this store wants to deal or not deal. Each one is different. I've worked with the store here in the area for years. I've walked away and told them that I was not going to deal with their practices. I always seem to go back. The staff are nice, it's just the owners and they're in it for the business. So a difficult as I find it, I realize it's all about making money. I told them that Minion needed to see a vet or at least they had to try to treat his prolapse. All their staff was terrified of him, so no one wanted to treat him. You have to be sweet no matter how disgusted you are....and you have to be prepared to walk away. Unfortunately, each store manager is different and knowing what strings to pull and with whom helps a lot.
I'm sorry that wasn't much help
ciao

[sheila]

from personal experience from working for that company, they might reduce price by 10% but the ferret needs to be 6 months or older before they give 50% off or place it up for aduption. you may want to ask if they know then the ferrets will be on sale again. i have seen managers with the company get in trouble for selling them for less than marked. the company calls it stealing. good luck.

[rachellori]

If a ferret is a biter should you avoid giving treats straight off your finger? (those pictures sparked my curiosity and I've heard that hand-feeding can lead to nipping with other animals.)
I hope your parents are willing to give her a loving home. If your parents weren't up for the training would there be a possibility of her staying with you until she learns her manners and then going to your parents?

[cynde]

She is beautiful. All she needs is love. She has been through so much at a young age. Especially the females. Spaying is considered major surgery. So far all she know is that she was taken from her mother, put in with other babies, spayed. Then shipped. She is only a baby and confused. Also, in some stores, I they are in a glass cage and people come up and tap on the window, etc. They are so young and do not understand. When she gets into a stable home and is trained she should be OK. She is not drawing blood? She may just think she is playing. Ferrets play rough with each other.

I am sorry I just think the whole pet store route is abusive to ferrets.

Off my soap box.

[Yurei Avalon]

Aug 21, 2012 10:59:36 GMT -5 sheila said:

from personal experience from working for that company, they might reduce price by 10% but the ferret needs to be 6 months or older before they give 50% off or place it up for aduption. you may want to ask if they know then the ferrets will be on sale again. i have seen managers with the company get in trouble for selling them for less than marked. the company calls it stealing. good luck.

Heh, not even then around here... there's a store near me that has this poor, giganticly fat sable hobb. They said he was 10 months old. Still full price with no likelihood of getting marked down anytime soon. There were two younger babies in the pen using him for teething practice.

Oh yes, as to getting them to take hand fed treats without biting your- I take my bitey kits and start them in on ferretone or another oil. If they bite my hand instead of licking it off, I smear some on their belly and let them learn to lick it off of themselves fist. Then they don't bite me anymore, they lick instead. Then I follow up with solid treats. Only takes a couple of days to train them I've found. Even when smeared in soup I don't get chewed on. Just licked.

[Sherry]

Rachel, the best way to teach a biter only good things come from hands is hand feeding.

[sheila]

that 10 month old SHOULD be 50% off or up for adoption. when I was with the company,(earlier this year), the paper was in the managers office and it shows the age of which each type of animal is SUPPOSED to be marked down. that is how several of my ferrets have come to me.

[hurricanekatt]

She would be staying with me until her biting calms down, after which she would go to live with my mom and siblings who would get detailed verbal and hands on instructions on how to react to and manage and possible nips or bites.

Cynde, you are absolutely right about the pet store experience. It's very abusive for critters, esp exotics. Reptiles are just as bad if not worse. She is a little scrapper. Anyone know of a cute name that = South Paw? Lol Sometimes when she bites she is trying to play, and sometimes it's out of dominance/self defense. Kind of seems to be her saying: "I've been roughed up a bit by hands before and ain't no hand gonna mess with me! I'm the boss ya hear?! And don't you forget it!"

[sheila]

we did a lot of 3 minnuite time outs with our biter. WARNING!! it gets worse before it gets better

[hurricanekatt]

Koda was a biter. He didn't break skin like this little girly, but he was persistent and persnickety and it hurt! lol

[Sherry]

Okay Katt. You bring this wee one in for bite retraining which can take a while, as we all know. Now what happens if she bonds with you, Shane, or your boys? ;D

[Heather]

Hmmmm....potato chips ;D

ciao

[hurricanekatt]

IF she comes to stay for a bit, she will NOT be housed with the boys. She will be caged separately. I'm not even sure they would be allowed to interact because she inevitably will have ear mites, which I do NOT want to treat my boys for again, esp because I want to have another play date soon with our friend-ferrets who are also recently ear mite-free. As far as getting attached to her, I'm sure I'll love her but going into it knowing she's not mine is the key. She's not at all what I am looking for in my next ferret. My heart hurts for her because she's a biter and prone to getting a rough life as a result so I want to help. But I honestly have no desire to add her to my household long term. It would be a blast to work with her on her biting habits and help her out, but she's just not "the one" for my household. I'm being good! <-

[Sherry]

Um, yeah. That was the attitude I had toward fostering Zeus and Athena ;D