Post by thewildsable on Aug 30, 2008 23:10:22 GMT -5
Well my deaf ferret Dewq had only a small jealously issue with me and my boyfriend. He would squeeze in between us and climb on top of my BF to be dominant, but never went past that and after a month quit the behavior. Then, I decided to get Rambo...he is not deaf....and is HUGE! Dewq is almost a year old and rambo is 6 months...but is twice Dewqs weight and seems more heavily muscled. His teeth are also larger as well as his ears. Rambo had a problem with me at first. He would bite to be set down but i never did set him down, and i scruffed him when he did....he stopped biting when being held by me only. Doesnt sound to serious but he hates my boyfriend....he stalkes him and and charges. Mostly his arms and legs...actually all of him. Scruffing, noise, time outs, water sprays dont work and almost make things worse. The little fuzz demon is practically in love with me lol. I am working with the sprays on skin but he still sits an waits for the smell to leave....like he is waiting for the instant that it leaves....
WHAT DO I DO! I am not getting rid of him...he is fixed
What are Rambo's most favourite treats in the world? Have your boyfriend carry some around in his pocket. It's really simple actually...your boyfriend, not you handles this ferret. I know he's bonded to you but right now you have a discipline problem with Rambo....he's now old enough to know better than to be biting, but because he gets lots of attention then he does it. I have been trying something, I just got a deaf ferret who doesn't respond well to scruffing, he actually attacks and hisses after being scruffed. I think sometimes that can be taken too far. How much time does Rocky have out of his cage? I found that handling and treats work far better than scruffing. You can also use time outs but no longer than 3 min. Make sure you use the timer. Mr Squiggly loves to be handled but he's a rambunctious kit and he loves to play, no one has ever taught him to play properly (soft bite vs hard bite) and because he's deaf he doesn't hear you scream only sees you bouncing around (he thinks that's funny). I use treats, time outs and tons and tons of handling and lots of out of cage time....my guys free roam except when I go to bed. I have too many ferrets to allow nightime roaming after I go to bed. I've had far greater success with gentle handling than scruffing. So far I've had 8 hard core biters turned into me and have 100 % success with this.