New in NY with 2 ferrets

[katt]

How you handle mouthing is totally up to you. Some people tolerate it, some do not. We let Koda mouth us and we will even let him get a little rough in play. But we have no small children and Koda knows NOT to bite new People. The only person he will reall bite hard is me because we get rough hand wrestling. He will occasionally give my bf Shane a good nip but not as often. Lol We like rough housing with him though and tolerate mouthing until he gets too hard and begins to hurt us them he gets a good Huss and scruff until he let's go, and moved away from us until he calms down. Some people don't allow any mouthing. Ferrets are like puppies, they use their mouths like their hands and to explore Their environment. I personally don't want to take that away. If I had small kids around or something that would be different.

[sherrylynne]

For me, "nipping" is mouthing, and doesn't hurt. "Biting" is either painful, or even draws blood. And it depends on when/where/why it happens. If they do get excited and bite during play, all games stop immediately, and ferret is "pushed" away. Temper tantrum bites end up in the time out carrier every single time. Fear bites are never punished in any way. If you punish a ferret who bites out of fear, you are simply reinforcing that fear.
I have 4 out of 9 who I can totally trust with others out of the house. The rest, no one else is allowed to handle them, unless they have their own ferrets, and I know them personally.