Biting vs mouthing/nipping

[menagery]

Apologies for the stupid question but I feel like Rip Van Winkle with how much has changed in the ferret world since last I was around. Not to mention the only baby ferret we ever raised was from a private breeder.

I've got Kim's wonderful ferret book, I've done lots of reading on training no bite so that I have lots of options at my fingertips, but I wondered about something. Are kits mouthy like how a puppy or kitten will be? Well yeah of course they're mouthy but will some of it fade with age and therefore doesn't need corrected? Or is it more a matter of teaching them no teeth on human skin period?

I want to be sure that I am completely consistent about training on this. And they both can bite to various amounts of pressure. But it seems like most of the time it's a mouthing (oh look, a toe, wonder what it's for) instead of a real bite (I didn't say you could hold me!). With puppies it's trained in a gradual way. You start out with correcting the painful bites, then the gentler bites, then any teeth on skin. But that's teaching soft mouth to a dog and these are ferrets. Hence the question.

Becky

[Heather]

I've only had one kit, all the rest of my furgang are rescues and if they're biters ... we work on it from there, there are usually underlying issues that must be dealt with.
The kit that I had was indeed like a puppy. Now, question....the ferret that you have presently, store bought?? If so you have to teach what momma never got the chance to teach, bite inhibition They take them away way too young and some of the ferrets (pet store) seem to be more prone to biting than others. Marshal's seem to be the easiest to handle, Path Valley and Canadian seem to be a little harder to teach, that being said once they are taught they are wonderful.
Napoleon (path valley ferret), was a notorious biter...toes, fingers...jump up and bite your thigh...your jeans, shoes (still loves it when you wear white socks, I'm not sure about that one) I think he spent more time in a scruff than having 4 paws on the ground. I'd scruff, he'd put his little paws together and say a prayer for forgiveness, I'd kiss him and put him down...he'd hiss and bite me again We eventually grew out of it. Now, I trust him with just about anyone....not necessarily when he's on the ground but when he's being held I did what you are suggesting, at first it was for hard bites and allowing him small mouthings and then working down until what I considered allowable. Hope that helps a little. The way I did it anyway
ciao