From:
bossbomb64@yahoo.com
Date: 2004-05-03 21:25:07 UTC
Subject: Re: Biting
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <5691712.1083619507103.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
My ferret Shelia is deaf and a biter. She was 8 mo old and had been in 5 h=
omes before I found her. I had never had a biter before but was determined=
that this was her last home. On the way home she bit me so much my had wa=
s sore for days. I began to read all I could about ferrets biting. Bitter=
Apple didn't work for Shelia. She is deaf so saying no had no effect. I =
did notice she is not this way with my other ferrets. They bite back. It =
has been 2 years and she doesn't bite nearly as much and she is much gentel=
er. I have also learned that she bites for several reasons and none of the=
m are out of anger or meaness. She nips our feet because she enjoys seeing=
the humans jump about. She would get so excited and do a war dance when w=
e scamble to get out of her way. Now this was hard but we just didn't reac=
t when she would bite our feet so she hardly does it anymore. She is also =
a pack rat. She steals anything that is not nailed down so sometimes she w=
as just trying to drag us off to her hidy hole. When Shelia first wakes up=
we used this as time to cuddle and have her get used to being loved. We n=
ow can pick her up and smooch on her at anytime. Not for long sessions but=
she will tolerate 3-5 minutes. She even kisses us back now. She still ni=
ps but not frequently and not hard. Hang in there and be patient. It is w=
orth it. She is not as sweet as our others but she is the most entertainin=
g out of all of them and so worth the work it has been. 2 years later and =
I wouldn't trade her for the world.
Connie
=
=
=