Ferret News
Pet Ferret Care Tips
and Information
By Mary R. Shefferman & Eric Shefferman - along with Gabby, the ferret
www.ferretnews.com

Ferret News #85: How To Train Ferrets Who Nip or Bite
October 24, 2004

contact: marymodernferret.com

10 Helpful Hints To Stop Fear Biting

By Bob Church

  One of the worst problems to solve with ferrets is fear biting. Here are my top ten hints for retraining a fear-biting ferret.

  1. Decrease the amount of stimuli that impacts the ferret. Move him  to a quiet corner in a quiet room, away from your child, cat, and even loud conversation. Build his confidence.

  2. Increase the ferret's feeling of security, which can be done in two ways. You can cover the top, back, and sides of the cage with dark towels (or, if the ferrets tear at the towels, by duct taping cardboard over the cage). Also, place inside the cage a small box, large enough to hold the ferrets and bedding. By increasing the amount of darkness, decreasing the impact of outside movement, and providing a nest box, you will increase the ferrets' feeling of security. Put away those hammocks for now.

  3. Use the "open hand" approach. Allow the ferret to approach you, rather than grabbing for her. When you pick her up, do not hold her, scruff her, or even retard her movements. This allows her to think contact is "her own decision." Some people may disagree with this, but it works well for me.

  4. Never punish with force. You might place the tip of your finger on his nose and say "no!", but do not thump, flick, scruff, or in any way use force to make your point. You are trying to re-teach the ferret not to bite, so dump violence as part of your lesson plan.

  5. Never reward the ferret for biting. Many people reward ferrets for biting, usually by offering a treat to make them stop. The ferrets learn they can get a treat by biting you, and they learn it fast! I offer treats as I take biters from the cage, and after I place them back in, but not while I am retraining them. Later, after the biting stops, you can offer treats. Rather, I offer bits of food on an open palm; the same type that is regularly fed them. They may not eat it, but they start associating you with dinner.

  6. Become the ferret's mother. If you really want a ferret to respond to you, groom it, especially around the eyes, mouth, and ears. When I do this, I try to mimic the soft chuckling sound by rapidly clicking my tongue to the roof of my mouth. It may not sound like a ferret, but it has a calming effect. If, when you are grooming, the ferret tries to bite, lightly scruff him for a short moment (like a real mother ferret would do), but continue the grooming.

  7. When you are bitten, place the ferret back in the cage immediately! Ferrets really hate being confined, especially when they can see other ferrets having fun. No physical punishment, no treats, just back in the cage for 3 minutes or so, then let them back out. If they try to bite again, put them back in the cage for another 3 minutes. It won't take long for them to associate biting with confinement during play time.

  8. Play with your ferrets. This is perhaps the most important thing you can do. Pick several times during the day that you know are free, and schedule ferret play at those times. You will find the ferrets will start changing their schedule to be awake then. Follow your schedule to the letter! If they bite too hard, hold a toy they can bite instead. Initiate play, rub them on the head and belly, tug their tail, and don't worry too much about being too rough. Do not postpone play, nor skip it!

  9. Let them explore their environment before you start handling them. A ferret's first instinct is to explore her surroundings, so give her 10 minutes or so before you start interacting with her.

  10. Assume you will be the target of those sharp little fangs. Resist the best you can jerking away (stimulates the clamping instinct), or trying to pry the ferret's mouth open (stimulates the fear response). Just place the ferret on the floor, and let him let go. Believe me, I know exactly how hard this can be! I once had a female fear biter macerate my thumb for more than 10 minutes! Some people try flooding the ferret's nose with water or various oils, but many times the ferret likes them, they drain off, or the ferret sees them as a treat. I have discovered a very effective material that is not generally seen as a treat -- Vaseline! I just smear a thick dab on the ferret's nose, and he lets go within a minute to lick it off so he can breathe. I have had 100% success with Vaseline, and keep an open container at-hand when dealing with biters. Another trick is to sprinkle a small amount [a few grains] of ground black pepper on the ferret's nose to make her sneeze. I don't like this one because of the danger of getting pepper into the eyes, but I know people who swear by it.

  The point to all these hints is that a fear biter needs to trust you, and that takes time, patience, and the willingness to accept a bite or two. It is not easy, it is not without pain, but it is perhaps the most rewarding thing you will ever accomplish. Using these hints, I have made several fear biters into the most loving ferrets you would ever know.

  One last comment. Ferrets are perceptive, intelligent animals, so there is a great deal of variation in their behavior. You may read of or hear other hints for dealing with fear-biting ferrets, and for individual ferrets, those hints might result in a better or faster outcome. Be flexible, and if one thing doesn't work, try something else. Don't get locked into one specific plan.

  Bob Church has done extensive research on the habits, history, and physical makeup of ferrets and other mustelids while studying zoo-archeology. Bob always has a house full of ferrets and an endless supply of ideas on how to keep them happy and healthy.

  This article originally appeared on the Ferret Mailing List (FML) on March 29, 2003. Used with permission.

Did You Know That ...

  Sometimes boy ferrets (and girl ferrets) just play-fight roughly with each other. We got an e-mail from a reader named Nikki who was concerned because two of her ferrets play very roughly and even draw blood sometimes. This column is based on my response to her question.

  When our Balthazar reached full size, he and Bosco would wrestle and bite each other a lot. For a while both Bal and Bosco had little scabs all over the scruffs of their necks and on their backs from this play behavior. But they could always be found curled up together like best buddies after playtime was over.

  When we got Cauliflower, he didn't get along with our other ferrets. The fighting was much more intense than with Bal and Bosco, and Cauli usually tried to grab the ferret by the scruff and bang his/her head against the floor or otherwise shake the ferret. When we saw this behavior, we knew that Cauli was out to harm the other ferrets. We tried to get him to work things out with the bigger boys (Bal and Bosco), but the integration sessions were too much for all the ferrets involved. Cauli only got along with Koosh; they even curled up and slept together.

  The basic type of play for ferrets is play-fighting. They determine what each other's limits are and then they play to that limit. Usually, when one or the other "cries uncle" the other ferret will ease up a bit. If the ferret is deaf, this could pose a problem. (See the "Did You Know That..." column in Ferret News #84.) Sometimes the play-fighting can be loud simply because one or both of the ferrets is vocal.

  Although, as a rule, when ferrets draw blood on each other they need to be separated, in most cases a little blood (as if from a pinprick or so) is no concern. A few scabs here and there are no big deal (think of little boys who end up bumped and bruised because they play roughly with each other). The problem arises when you see more serious wounds; although even ferrets who get along can occasionally accidentally scratch or bite each other and cause bleeding.

  There are other clues as to what constitutes normal play-fighting. If the two ferrets are not making a lot of racket (hissing, screaming...), they are equally matched, and they end up calming down on their own, then it's probably nothing to be concerned about. If they actually curl up to sleep with each other, then there's definitely no problem. Likewise, if they can take treats alongside each other and don't seem to stalk each other or be totally preoccupied with tearing each other up, then there's not a problem. Some ferrets are very vocal; they may chitter, squeak, or hiss a little during the normal course of play. If you hear a lot of hissing or screaming (you can't mistake a ferret scream -- it's like a baby screaming), then you need to intervene. Eventually, we all learn to discern the happy vocalizations from the scared vocalizations.

  If you do notice that one of your ferrets gets a bad wound, you'll want to re-evaluate the situation. Remember that ferrets can do a lot of damage to each other or other animals if they want to. Their teeth are sharp and their jaws are powerful. If you're not seeing deep (deep as a tooth) punctures or wounds on "important" areas (like the eyes or throat -- not the scruff), then everything should work out all right.

  It can be difficult to get used to the way some ferrets play-fight with each other -- especially if your first few ferrets are mellow or you're new to having more than one ferret.

  We hope you enjoyed this newsletter. Stay tuned for more. In the coming weeks, we'll be adding a lot of new stuff to our online stores -- just in time for the holidays. You'll be able to find gifts for ferrets and their human slaves!

--Mary, Eric & Gabby (the lone ferret)

  Stay tuned for more. You can always get updates by reading my blog (a blog is an online journal). I keep it sporadically and it usually runs to the more personal stuff. But you might like it. It's at

http://www.modernferretblog.com/mary

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