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Post by lyles on May 25, 2021 21:05:09 GMT -5
It's funny I was talking about on an earlier thread here about biting. I'm dumbstruck at the behavior of my youngest, Sean. It's not fearbiting. It's not abuse, I've had him 4-5weeks old, nearly straight from the farm. It's not excessive play. The only thing I can think of is it's prey driven. It's been going on for a few weeks now and I don't know what could have triggered it, but he attacks my forearms without any sign of playfulness or aggression (hissing). He won't bite any other part of my body and if I'm relaxing on the couch he will jump up and climb all over me like any other ferret. For some reason through he'll mimic Aron or Alice to want being picked up (stand up and wrap their front legs around my arm to want being picked up) but instead he'll lick fast then bite down as hard as he can and jerk and twist like he's trying to rip flesh. If I wasn't desensitised and have thick skin he would of torn my arm open many of times. I never had, in my 20+ years of owning ferrets have had one act this way. All methods I used for nip training do not work, last resort is I'm now using the smaller, older carrier as a time out jail (not using the new carrier so they don't associate as punishment). Doing 15 min. right now but placed him in there 4 times so far to no change. Going to amp it up to 30 min here next. These are my battle scabs so far.  It really takes patience to deal with these devils lol. |
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Post by okojosan on May 26, 2021 1:31:53 GMT -5
I have a biter, and when she bites me I say "AH-AH-AH-AH!" and then put her in the sin bin for 3 minutes. She's a fear biter though, I think in the early stages of our relationship she was pre-emptively attacking me in fear that I might hurt her.  She's gotten a lot better, and now sometimes when she seems to make a move to bite me, I say "AH-AH-AH-AH!" and she backs off or licks me instead. I think the verbal cue combined with immediate sin-binning really helps. It did take over a year, though, and I still don't completely trust her. I've always heard that ferrets won't remember why they're in the bin for longer than 5 minutes, though. |
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on May 26, 2021 14:13:30 GMT -5
Yeah, I think it is 3 minutes in sin bin. i was just too lazy to do it as I felt it would wear me out before the ferret.
It does seems like he is practicing for prey.
I don't know if ferrets like to show out for attn like a dog or not.
Does he like chicken wings?(something to gnaw on)
There is this---
The Con Bite: This bite is a ferret specialty, usually when you are holding them or on a convenient foot. You get a few innocent “kisses” or licks and then CHOMP (a bite or a bite & latch). This is usually a territorial bite or dominance bite and can be seen being used on new ferrets or on ferrets that may be challenging an alphas rule.....
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Post by lyles on May 26, 2021 16:50:14 GMT -5
Yeah, I think it is 3 minutes in sin bin. i was just too lazy to do it as I felt it would wear me out before the ferret. It does seems like he is practicing for prey. I don't know if ferrets like to show out for attn like a dog or not. Does he like chicken wings?(something to gnaw on) There is this--- The Con Bite: This bite is a ferret specialty, usually when you are holding them or on a convenient foot. You get a few innocent “kisses” or licks and then CHOMP (a bite or a bite & latch). This is usually a territorial bite or dominance bite and can be seen being used on new ferrets or on ferrets that may be challenging an alphas rule..... Yes, that's what it is. I seen this before on here but when it said kisses + bite I was thinking of like a hard play bite and let go, not a fang pierce and jerk like a pitbull. I mostly owned female ferrets too, so that might be why I never seen it before. Aron is bigger and heavier built but he's a real cuddle bear and goes out of his way not to bite hard while playing. Sean was only 4-5 weeks old when I introduced him to Aron who was much larger and heavier than he was and was very rough with him. They stand toe to toe now, both equally matched, maybe he sees me as a way to vent his frustration since it usually happens right after they are done playing. |
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Post by unclejoe on May 26, 2021 20:54:41 GMT -5
There is this--- The Con Bite: This bite is a ferret specialty, usually when you are holding them or on a convenient foot. You get a few innocent “kisses” or licks and then CHOMP (a bite or a bite & latch). This is usually a territorial bite or dominance bite and can be seen being used on new ferrets or on ferrets that may be challenging an alphas rule..... That was Rosa. I got her from a rescue with the help of this forum, and she bit me the first time I held her, in that manner. As the years went on (I can be a slow learner, hah, or maybe I just hated to discipline her after all she had beeen thru), I learned to recognize that she liked being held, but only for a minute, and to recognize the lick as a sign. She never bit my wife. Maybe it's the hairy arms, lol. She was an albino and they tend to be high strung and have less than perfect vision, so I chalked it up to that. Otherwise she was a sweetheart that loved her cagies. She was one of my faves.   DSCF3115 by unclejoe1158, on Flickr  IMG_0594 by unclejoe1158, on Flickr |
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Post by lyles on Jun 2, 2021 8:05:36 GMT -5
The timeouts did not work, in fact it seemed to make it worse as he'll do it more frequently right after for revenge or he will do it while Aron is beating him up so he'll have a space he can't get to.
I did found something that worked though. I have a ton of cayenne pepper powder and I just rub some into my forearms and now when he tries to go for them he shakes his head and changes his mind instead. lol I figure if I do this for a couple of months he'll forget all about that behavior.
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 2, 2021 21:00:40 GMT -5
I have never had to try cayenne, I'd be too worried about getting it in his eyes but if it works and doesn't hurt them...If you're consistent it probably won't take more than a week.
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Post by lyles on Jun 2, 2021 22:21:52 GMT -5
oh yeah, it's not like dusted, I just put some on and rub it into the skin good, I just have to reapply it if I sweat from outside and make sure not to wipe my face with my arms lol.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jun 3, 2021 3:05:26 GMT -5
oh yeah, it's not like dusted, I just put some on and rub it into the skin good, I just have to reapply it if I sweat from outside and make sure not to wipe my face with my arms lol.
Wow, Like that.
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Post by lyles on Jun 4, 2021 17:20:44 GMT -5
After a couple of days he hasn't bitten. There has been a couple of times he caught me without it on, but he just did a few licks and moved on. Hopefully it becomes a habbit.
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Post by lyles on Jun 5, 2021 23:57:32 GMT -5
Sean was Scratching a lot, I placed him in my lap and was looking through his fur to see if he had any fleas.
Saw a bunch of scabs all over his back, but no fleas.
That's how rough they play fight, Aron doesn't have any scabs on him so he must still be the bully.
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Post by lyles on Jun 27, 2021 9:10:34 GMT -5
Now if only I can get him to stop his morning routine, which happens every morning. Tears up the potty pad before I have a chance to change it and tries to flip the water and food station. I like it that it's too heavy for him to flip it completely over but tries anyway. Thought about going back to using washable pads. Will need to find a place to pin them on to spray off an hang to drain before washing though. I went to the bed liners as they were convenient and hassle free with Alice.  I gave up on litter boxes long time ago. In cages they are good but every instance I tried using them the ferrets would just dig out the litter all over the floor. |
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