Explaining why a ferret bites is not an easy thing to do. There's a number of reasons why ferrets bite, and a number of solutions. The first step in breaking your ferret of this behavior is to understand what motivates him to do it in the first place. Let's examine some of three most common reasons ferrets bite. Teething - In the weeks after a ferret is born, it will bite almost constantly. Until their eyes open up, biting is partly a way for them to 'see' what's around them. It's also how they communicate with their littermates, and for some chewing relieves the pain of teething. The important thing to know is that their second set of teeth will be much less sharp than the first set. … [Read more...]
Ferret Sounds and Body Language
July 13, 2011 By 2 Comments
At one time or another every ferret owner begins to wonder what their ferret is trying to say. It's good to be able to understand the sounds they make as well as to decipher the meaning of their behavior and body language, not just to understand your fuzzies feelings and moods, but also to identify the dominant in a group of ferrets. Clucking - One of the most frequent noises you may hear your ferret make is the dook sound. It sounds sort of like a chicken cluck. At times this can indicate nervous excitement, like human laughter. You may notice ferrets do this most often when they are in social groups. Screaming - Ferrets rarely scream or cry. If a ferret makes any sort of yelping or … [Read more...]
Ferret Sleep Patterns
July 12, 2011 By 8 Comments
When trying to come to a decision about whether or not you should have ferrets as pets, one thing that needs to be taken into account is their sleeping patterns. Many people hear from friends who own ferrets that ferrets sleep a lot or that they are nocturnal and they get the wrong idea that a ferret is able to stay happily in a cage all day while they are at work. The truth is that while ferrets sleep a lot, (about 20 hours a day) they have irregular sleep patterns which involve sleeping in four or five hour intervals throughout the day. During that time they will usually wake up for short periods, which can last anywhere from 20 - 90 minutes at a time. Ferrets do tend to be slightly … [Read more...]
Training Your Ferret Not To Bite
July 5, 2011 By 4 Comments
Humans often misinterpret nipping as a sign of malice in ferrets, which is unfortunate because baby ferrets use their mouth to explore and for them biting is mostly a friendly behavior. A way to communicate and play with other ferrets and humans. Being social animals they are normally pretty willing to cooperate with whatever rules we lay down but they aren't born knowing that we don't like being bitten. Our skin is much thinner than theirs and so we have to tell them that biting hurts us. How we tell them is the subject of this article. The most common methods for nip training baby ferrets is by gently pinning them on their back when they bite, scruffing them or restricting their … [Read more...]