From:
"Ulrike"
Date: 2003-11-25 13:35:04 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Aggressive ferret!!!
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-Id: <3FC35A88.00000F.03588@Ferretlove1>
Thank you Alicia, Regina, Sukie, Gail and Marguerite for your replies. =
Spike the ferret is pretty nasty, he just looks where he can bite me. He
attacks arms, legs, anywhere where he can bite and get through to the skin.=
=
When he's out he doesn't play much, he tries to bite me somehow. I had to
handle him with gloves, I swore to myself that I would *never* do that but =
I
just had to. I only use one glove though and pet him with my other hand. =
Earlier I held him on my lap for about half an hour, in the end he was lyin=
g
either on the glove or my lap and I could stroke him. I think he may come
round eventually, I'm not feeling as bad anymore as I did last night. But =
I
also think he'll be unpredictable for a long time. He is having extended
play times but is very attached to his cage already and protective of it an=
d
I bet if I went up now he'd be in his cage...
Considering his fate was either to be hit over the head or thrown in with a=
pack of terriers to make the terriers vicious and rip him apart, I think
being handled with a glove isn't the worst thing that could have happened t=
o
him. I'll try and dump the gloves as soon as possible.
I tried to figure out why he's biting but I don't know, yet. He has been
slapped for biting and has never been handled and never let out but the way=
he bites is just different, I can't really explain it. Like when you put a=
new ferret into an existing group and they bully him, that's how I get =
treated". It's like he's bullying me, saying that he's the alpha ferret. =
I
guess we can work through that and become friends...
He hasn't been neutered, his testes have gone into his body but I can still=
feel them underneath the skin so I will probably book him in for his
castration next week when he's settled in a bit.
My friends know Spike's dad and also mum so he isn't a polecat or hybrid. =
He is beautiful, has a mitt pattern and is between polecat and sandy colour=
with dark ruby eyes. I do have a hybrid ferret here, mum was an albino and=
dad a wild polecat and he is lovely! When he was 4 months old I already
gave him to kids to handle him, he is huge, 4 1/4 pounds, very intelligent.=
=
I have a friend in north Wales who has a wild polecat and her hybrid
daughter but they both bite badly...
I guess I was a bit shaken up last night, my Tara had an operation to remov=
e
a blockage from her stomach and it was the first blockage I had with my
ferrets, my friend's ferret Zac died last year after an operation to remove=
a blockage... But Tara is doing well so fingers crossed she'll be okay!
Ulrike
=
West Wales Ferret Welfare
E-mail: ulrike@ferretlove.co.uk
http://www.ferretlove.co.uk
Last update 26/04/03 =