From:
- Z -
Date: 2001-05-23 12:26:00 UTC
Subject: Re: MEAN biting ferret!
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Kimberly Cox" <jaxy25@y...> wrote:
> She had a home
> before us and in that home she was stuck in her cage 24 hours a day
> but as far as I can tell she was not abused.
well, for an animal with the physical and mental needs of a ferret, I
think that does qualify as abuse through neglect. I would start
having psychological problems if I were never let out of my room and
had nothing to do (actually, that sounds kind of like me in my
cubicle at work right now, but luckily I can rationalize my way out
of biting my boss :) In a way, you are dealing with "damaged goods"
here.
She is very loving once
> I get her in my arms and kiss and hug her. She sits calmy for
loving
> strokes and chit chats, BUT she will bite if I give her the chance.
Some ferrets just do that lick lick lick CHOMP thing-- the best way
to break that habit, I think, is to stop them before they get to the
chomp. Do you use any scented soaps or lotions, or are you a
smoker? That might aggravate the problem.
I can't really speak to the blindness issue, but as the owner of a
mostly deaf ferret, I just pieced it together through observation.
After I added a hearing ferret to my household, it became that much
clearer. If through watching her behavior compared to the others you
suspect she's deaf, chances are she is.
I agree with tle that there is no such thing as a mean ferret. There
are confused ferrets, there are ferrets who act out inappropriately,
but there's always some underlying reason for the behavior. Some
habits are hard to break, but the majority of them can be turned
around with patience.
Regina