Severe Ferret biting problem.?

Question

Ok, i have a male ferret who is past being a kit, who is a biter. The other who will be a year in Nov does not bite out of aggression, he is a sweetie. Now here is the odd part, the biter (Rambo) will not bite me out of fear or aggression, only little play nips. He will on the other hand stalk, chase and relentlessly bit my boyfriend and anyone else that is not me. This is not play that he is displaying, I know ferret play bites, they dont leave you bleeding and bruised.

He bit me a lot when i first got him, but it stopped, and now Rambo will fall asleep in my lap and lay on his back so I can clip his nails. My boyfriend has never done anything mean to this fuzzy and my parents dont mess with my ferrets. Scruffing has no effect, nose tapping is a failure, water spray useless. One method that worked for a little while was pepper powder, it stopped working. I didnt like the pepper one, but a week of no bites was nice.

I need your help with this one!

Answer 1

First, are they neutered ?  This is VERY important !  Especially if you have more than one.  When they mature, they will NOT get along with each other unless neutered (and sometimes not even then )

They, as you have discovered, play bite quite hard sometimes (it's that bite, roll, twist thing they do... ouch! ).  They, the males, are also possessive.  Your boyfriend and other friends are rivals and intruders. Only patience, time and more patience and time will help.  Until then, your boyfriend knowing how to handle him without exposing his hands to your ferret's teeth might help.  Gloves are a good idea too ! They haven't earned the name 'carpet-shark' for nothing ! ..  Good luck :-)

Answer 2

He sounds like a real monkey.  When I get one who bites hard to hurt or break the skin, I use a high pitched YIP or squeak sound when they are in the act of biting.  Just like your ferrets do.  This has always worked for me.  

One thing I want to say about the biting.  I have a little girl who came to me as a biter years ago and now is the sweetest little girl there ever was.  She came in with another biter who just passed away who we loved so dearly.  I used this method on them but the little one is really mouthy and gets really nervous.  She will grab my hand and bite or pull it when she gets nervous or frightened.  I let her do this because she never bites hard, just that she likes to put her mouth on my hand and pull.  This is a very ferret thing to do and is OK as long as they are biting softly.  She is about 6 years old now and has not bitten hard for the last 3 years.  If a ferret is really mouthy but uses their teeth softly, then I think it's OK and not considered biting.  

Try squealing sharply when he is biting and see if he responds.  I do not ever use any aggressive methods that would encourage aggression from the ferret.  They are so sensitive and will react to aggression with aggression.  Don't let people play with him with their feet even in play because he will want to bite the feet because it makes you squeal and it's fun.

Answer 3

You can try saying No in a firm voice, and then putting the ferret in the cage for several minutes without its cuddly friend. The next time you say no, Rambo will remember that he was put in the cage and might stop his bad behavior. Or, you can combine the pepper spray with the cage. Also make sure that this is your boyfriend penalizing Rambo so that Rambo knows that your boyfriends is just has much authority as you do.