From:
autumn whispers
Date: 2009-02-24 22:33:31 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] my ferret is biting me crazy help!
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I think this might be something that differs, correction wise, from ferret
to ferret. The only biter I've had was my little Peanut, who passed away
after surgery a little over a couple years ago. Anyway, she was a
fear-biter, and in my humble opinion that's the most difficult biter to deal
with, because a fear-biter believes they are defending their very lives. It
took at least a year with her, not ever scolding or reprimanding her at all,
to get things to a point where she wasn't afraid, to where she wouldn't bite
me. But then, again, she began as a fear biter and was not at all playful
when she'd bite.
Basically, nothing worked with her, and any scruffing would pretty much
guarantee a serious chomping once I let her go. I found this out the very
first time I did it. But I could tell in her behavior that she was afraid,
that whoever had her before we did... must have hurt her. So my approach
was caution, and 100% patience. She learned she could predict with 100%
certainty that no matter how hard she bit me.... I would only talk softly to
her and stroke her fur gently, and I NEVER put her down immediately
following a bite because she would have learned that would be a sure-fire
way to let a human know she wanted down. I certainly didn't want to teach
her that. ;)
So patience, in her case, is what worked. Also, knowing her body language,
how she would tense up, the turn of her head with tension in her neck....
all the things that preceded a bite, helped a great deal. I could avoid her
bites and still hold her gently, never allowing her the opportunity to
bite. I would never, however, hold her too long like this, because
stressing her out or making her anxious and trapped wouldn't have helped her
learn any new behavior.
Bonita, if she's not biting out of fear, may just need consistent, gentle
correction. My little Pixie bites when she plays, but she knows when I do
what comes natural to me... yelping an 'ouch!'... she lets go and plays a
bit more gently. She's not a biter, but a nipper, and she still tries that
because my fiance would let her play rough with him when she was a kit.
However, she didn't know her strength in the beginning, so we did the usual
scruff and a stern (not yelling) "No!"... then after a few seconds followed
by a gentle stroke on the head and soft talk.
Bonita doesn't seem to be a fear-biter, but I don't know. I guess none of
us know how these kids are treated while at a pet store or previous home.
All we can do is try different things, making certain none of it is
aggressive, abusive, or physically or mentally harmful in any way.
Everything done with love, I believe, is the very best way.
Bonita will learn as long as the lessons are consistent, gentle, and with
love. :)
Ella
On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 1:16 PM, missthing8816 <missthing8816@yahoo.com>wrote:
> my baby ferret bonita is biting me alot and i take her by the back of
> her neck look her in the eye and tell her no. but all she does is yawn
> and when i put her down she goes back to biting me. i know she not
> trying to hurt me and trying to have fun but i dont like it very much.
> i also try taking her by the back of neck telling her no and puting her
> back in the cage. but after a while she starts whining and i take her
> out and then she start biting me a again. after a while of biting me
> and me saying no i put her back in the cage again and so on. i dont
> know what to do she being a little brat help.
>
>
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