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Biting
Feb 13, 2012 17:39:42 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2012 17:39:42 GMT -5
I am constantly amazed at how smart ferts are. He's my ferrent-coach. This morning, he woke me up by snuffling my face....at 0600 in the blessed AM! My reply? Yes Master. Coming Master
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Biting
Feb 13, 2012 19:17:39 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2012 19:17:39 GMT -5
It's also really important to figure out the reason they're biting you. We used to have playful biters who just thought that any sharp movements meant it was playtime, and the hold and scruffing worked for them.
However, our rescue boy was fine and gave lots of kisses and cuddles EXCEPT when he saw a hand moving, and then he went psycho and lunged for you- we think he used to be hit or at least handled really roughly, and we know for a fact his previous owner tried to drown him, and so he was terrified of hands. Because he's associated hands with bad things for so long, we had to make sure he knew they were only for good things from now on, so every time we picked him we had a treat in our hands for him to either take or lick off. Normally I'd say nip training kits by getting them to lick paste/oil off your fingers is madness, but for his biting problem, it was just what he needed. If your ferrets are hissing at you or acting angry, maybe it's not normal kit nippiness? Are they being playful when they do it, is it normally preceeded or followed by dooking or war dancing? If not, then playfulness might not be the cause. (Just to clarify, I'm not saying you abuse them or anything, but they might have developed a trigger for their behaviour through conditioning that you didn't realise you were doing).
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Biting
Feb 13, 2012 20:25:49 GMT -5
Post by Sherry on Feb 13, 2012 20:25:49 GMT -5
but they might have developed a trigger for their behaviour through conditioning that you didn't realise you were doing). And that's a very good point! Many times, just getting the reaction they do is enough. Which is why it's so important NOT to react, as difficult as it is.
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Biting
Feb 14, 2012 5:24:23 GMT -5
Post by slinkytiger on Feb 14, 2012 5:24:23 GMT -5
theferretprincess & Sherry - that is so true! As the young ones have got older we have all reached an understanding about the 'biting'. They grew really fast - so play nips when they were small weren't an issue - THEN they grew BIG & suddenly we were dealing with play nips that really hurt & they didn't realise that it hurt. The scruffing & placing on their back unil some form of submission occurs has worked really well. We also do the 'loving ferret bonding stroking as well. I also use ferrevite to make licking fingers friendly & that has worked well too. We worked out that Pika's hisses are play talk & the boys pant hard core (like dogs). Pika still does the play nips with wild dance + leaps if she is really excited & wants us to play with her. She soes "the wild thing". However - new people are considered fair game & potential prey - lol - so we are still working on that one.
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