From:
Angela Espinet
Date: 2003-11-26 05:41:52 UTC
Subject: Re: Agressive ferret!!!
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <28571894.1069871374748.JavaMail.nobody@vanadium.smartgroups.com>
Hello Ulrike,
I have had many an agressive ferret and it
certainly takes time to win their confidence! Can you
find a healthy snack such as cooked liquified chicken,
or babyfood that you can feed him carefully from a
syringe. I have found that if you wrap the ferret in a
towel, or baby blanket and feed 2-3 times a day with a
syringe, they grow to trust you much faster.
[MODERATOR'S NOTE: Sorry to butt in here but this is important. Angela has
an exreme level of expertise and is really, really capable even with tricky things
like syringe feeding. If others want to try syringe feeding be SURE to have a vet
teach you how to do it safely because if done wrong there is the risk of
aspiration pneumonia and that is life threatening. Now, back to Angela...]
Personally I do not feel that neutering the ferret
would make any difference and it might make matters
worse, especially if he is just beginning to trust you
and then he has to be away from you for surgery. Then
on top of that his hormones will be affected until
they settle down, although at this time of year it is
not the season for mating.
The majority of the ferrets that I have had that
are real biters, have turned out to be 'hypoglycemic'
which could be his problem from what you mentioned
about his previous diet. Perhaps if you start giving
him easy to digest protein he may start to feel
better.
Another thing to check is his eyesight, many a
blind ferret will bite out of fear and that would
definitely be possible in his case since he is now in
a new home, does not recognise his surroundings and
could be panicking with every sound. Deafness also
produces panic and fear biting in strange places.
I thought it might be of help to mention a little
ferret we rescued a few months ago, his name was
Angel, a silver ferret, the only word that described
him was vicious!!! Couldn't quite put my finger on why
he was so nasty. Checked all the above mentioned
things and fed him several times a day as he was
extremely emaciated.
After 3 weeks he put on weight and was very
trusting of me, although I made sure I did not let on,
that I did not trust him!!! Then he suddenly started
to lose weight again and after a week I decided he
needed to see the vet. He had a large hard mass in the
abdomen, we decided for his sake to put him to sleep.
At necropsy it was discovered that his intestines were
all tangled up around a tumor, he must have been in
terrible pain, poor thing!
Since you are the one observing the ferret, maybe
you will be able to tell by his actions and responses,
whether it is an emotional or physical problem---Angela