Rizzo
New member
Posts: 2
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Post by Rizzo on Dec 27, 2020 18:49:10 GMT -5
I'm going to preface this by stating that I've never raised a ferret before, this is my first time doing so, so if I'm missing something blatantly obvious to the more experienced ferrents, that's why. Alright, so I recently welcomed a 5-month-old ferret kit into my life. Despite not knowing anybody who actually had a ferret, I've always wanted to get one. So when I learned that one of my co-workers had a relative who rescued ferrets, I was thrilled. I bought a fairly large cage (as well as a smaller cage so I could keep him in my office at work), a couple assorted toys and harnesses, and some other stuff that a Petco employee (and ferret ownee) told me I might need. A couple weeks (and nights of research) later, I was notified that "Ferret Guy" had a 5-month-old ferret kit come in, and he was in need of a new home. This little guy was a Marshall ferret, booted out by his previous family for being "too bitey," which I thought nothing of at the time, as I figured his previous owners must've just been incompetent. I saw him and fell in love on the spot. I filled out some paperwork and promptly brought my new fuzzy friend home with me.
A couple days later, I found out he was deaf. This concerned me, but I didn't worry about it too much, as I was too busy finding and sewing my fingers back on. Just kidding, but I figured out pretty quickly that he was a HUGE biter. He bit my hands every chance he got, and drew blood several times within the first couple days. He's gotten better about not full-on finger-cleaving through sin bin training, but he still bites me constantly. In addition to biting, he acts as if his body is magnetically repelled away from my hands. He completely rejects any pets, scratches, and general physical interaction. He acts like I don't exist most of the time, opting instead to meander around my room looking for corners to poop in. Sometimes he even hisses at me while biting my fingers. These facts are all quite discomforting, to say the least. Now I might seem like an a*****e for saying this, but I got a ferret because I wanted a companion, not an a*****e roommate who doesn't pay rent, takes my money, and bites me all the time. I'm not just going to throw money away to facilitate the life of a creature that shows no love for me whatsoever. Will he get any better? I need to know, because I have neither the money nor the good will required to continue taking care of a lost cause.
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Post by Charlie on Dec 27, 2020 20:24:55 GMT -5
He's not a lost cause but a ferret that is afraid. He probably was not treated well at his first home so if you can show patience, you will develop a great friend in the end. Sounds like this ferret was not taught how to not bite. They bite when they are afraid or possibly been hit too. Flicking a ferret on it's nose will not teach it not to bite.
Use some salmon oil and coax the ferret that you are friendly. Use toys between your fingers and the ferret right now until he learns to play nice. Another way I got my ferret to stop biting was to leave the room when we were playing. If he was biting hard I would leave him and he had no one to play with. He learned quickly that it was no fun.
To communicate with him, you may need to tap on the floor so he can pick up on vibrations since he can't hear.
He needs time to adjust to his new environment. What I did was let my ferret out for the first 3 days and let him explore his new home so he got use to being there and the new smells. After the first 3 days then I offered him some salmon oil and we have been best buds since!! I used cat wands and balls to play with him and kept my fingers out of the way. lol
Since he is a Marshall ferret he will grow out of the biting stage because they are bred to be gentle. If he was abused then it will take some time to earn his trust. Also since he was taken from his mother too early, which all Marshall ferrets are, you have to teach him to use the litter box or a puppy pad. Put the puppy pads in the corners of the room you are in for him to use.
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Rizzo
New member
Posts: 2
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Post by Rizzo on Dec 27, 2020 21:54:28 GMT -5
I had been using scruffing as a punishment for biting too hard up until a couple days after getting him. Scruffing him just pisses him off even more, so I stopped that real quick. I read somewhere on here that picking them up by their scruff and dragging them across the floor a bit was supposed to be a more effective form of punishment, y'know, showing them who the alpha is and all, but that just pissed him off as well. That definitely didn't get me on his good side, but I've been using one of those disposable cardboard Petco carriers as a sin bin for a while now, and it's working pretty well.
As for adjusting to his environment, he has had a couple weeks to adapt to it. I've let him roam around my house since I ferret-proofed it, which was just a day or two after I got him. I ordered some salmon oil yesterday, and it should be coming in tomorrow, but I doubt that's going to magically make him like me.
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Post by Charlie on Dec 28, 2020 19:38:15 GMT -5
Yup scruffing them doesn't work, it just pisses them off. lol Stick with the sin bin. The biting stage will get better. It's like having a puppy, they go through a biting stage as well and think they are playing but their bite hurts. You have to be consistent with staying on top of the biting. He is still young so he has some learning to do.
Like most young pets they don't come trained when you bring them into your home.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Dec 29, 2020 4:56:09 GMT -5
Ask not what your ferret can do for you, but what you can do for your ferret. LOL.
Just a little critter that needs a home.
They are Very curious, and they love, love to investigate.
Sleep, investigate, sleep, investigate. Food comes in there somewhere. They do get bored with same old same old. They are not lap animals because evidently it is just too boring to sit on someone's lap.
He will eventually want to play with you and be chased-- needs to get to know you and your home, and things will be better when he starts to feel at home.
We have had biters---some were scared, some liked to play using their teeth. One that we had went crazy over movement. I could not change her blankets nor potties in cage without removing her first. she would attack my hand. I think that is why the people sold her. One day I was sanding the baseboard before painting. It woke her up and here she came after my hand. It took a little longer for her to change, and I did nothing but let time do its thing. She did like chasing cat toys on a string, so that is how I played with her at times. I got her at one year old and she just passed away last year---she was 6.5 yrs old.
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vivi
Junior Member
Posts: 163 
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Post by vivi on Dec 29, 2020 12:09:36 GMT -5
We all pass a similar period like you have now. Few weeks are not enough some times. It needs patience.Ferrets are not dogs, that look you with love even if you meet them on the road.
Give it time , I am sure it worths.
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Post by unclejoe on Dec 29, 2020 14:43:42 GMT -5
hI and welcome
My first ferret was deaf as well. She wasn't a biter, tho her nipping my ear in the pet store is what made me decided to get her. She was so busy stashing various objects like dog food, paintballs, pens and pencils, and Lincoln logs, that she didn't have a lot of time for me.
we had a concrete slab floor with wall to wall carpet, and she would actually come running whenever I turned on the vacuum power head.
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cockneyferret
Adolescent Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Posts: 253
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Post by cockneyferret on Jan 5, 2021 16:14:55 GMT -5
I had a 3 week window when Bandida was biting hard, I stuck to the sin bin and at the end of 3 long, hard, and painful weeks she stopped biting me hard. Now she still bites EVERYONE else, apart from me unless she gets really excited playing, and even then it's rare that she breaks the skin now. Ladrona has never bitten. It's just part of the process of bonding with them.
At the end of those 3 weeks I was wearing a T-shirt whilst out shopping and a woman looked at my arms and genuinely asked me very sincerely if I was OK? Hadn't realised until that point that my arms did look like i'd been self harming.
Cheers
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Post by brittanyb on Jan 5, 2021 18:01:55 GMT -5
The only biters I've ever had were kits around the same age as yours, and the sin bin method worked wonders for them. Huck was the worst offender, and now he's the sweetest and gentlest boy. It takes some time and patience, but it will be worth it. You and your fuzzy will be friends before you know it. Hang in there.  |
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Post by Sherry Stone on Jan 6, 2021 8:31:57 GMT -5
I know I am coming in on this late, but the scruffing/dragging/other physical punishments have simply reinforced why he needs to be afraid and lash out. He is still a baby, and one who has been very ill used. So he has zero reason to trust you. Try to get him used to something like salmon oil(give him a few licks from a bottle etc). As he learns to accept that, you can begin to use it as a training tool to teach him your hands will only ever hold good things again.
I was in much the same position with my first ferret, Boris several years ago. Only a month of doing what I had understood was supposed to be correct reinforced a major fear biter. It took another 10 months of working with him daily for him to begin to trust me again. But because of that intensive working together he became a major "mamma's boy"
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