Hi! My friend has 2 female ferrets and a female parakeet. She told me that one of the ferrets bites anyone but her...even her husband.
She hasn't always been like that. The vet said that she is just aggressive. Can that be true?The ferrets also sneeze a lot, and the vet told her that they were allergic to the bird. Can that be so? Also, the other ferret doesn't potty in her out-of-cage box anymore, but she used to.
If anyone can help with any of these problems, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

-Trinity

Hi Trinity.
I picked the brain of a friend of mine who has owned ferrets for many years.

He said:

Yes it is true that some ferrets have a tendency to bite. Not much you can do about that.

As for the sneezing and the litter box...there may be a connection. He said that some litters, especially the cheaper ones, give off a lot of dust. If the dust is making her sneeze, she would avoid the box.

He also said he doubted that the ferrets were allergic to the bird unless they were in direct contact with the bird, in which case, there would be no more bird! *CHOMP!!...lol*

Does your vet specialize in small & exotics? If not, maybe a second opinion is in order.

Hope this helps some.

Thank you, Cyndiluwho. I will run those ideas by my friend and see what she says.


-Trinity

Okay, my friend said that it's the same litter she has in her cage, and she uses that one. The bird is in the kitchen, and the ferrets don't go in there. The vet isn't a specialist in anything. She lives in Japan, and she'd have to be in the states for a specialist.
Sorry... Any other ideas?

-Trinity

sometimes you have to keep a naughty potty ferret in the cage till they use the litterbox then let them out for a few hours play time.it's best not to let them loose most of the time as sometimes they "forget" where the litterbox is, and with their lil legs it's hard to run too far when ya gotta go

HEY...Welcome Fewwet!!.....

Trinity, this is the friend whose brain I picked. He has owned many ferrets over the years, and I wold certainly consider him an expert for any problems your friend may have.

Glad ya finally signed up, fewwet!!

Thank you for your replies. However, the ferret goes potty where she is supposed to in her cage, and she used to go in it outside the cage, too, but has stopped. We're trying to figure out why she did it before and doesn't now.

-Trinity

I owned and bred ferrets before I moved to Canada, so I may know a little about them.

Ferrets are playful creatures with aggressive tendencies. I used to get given a lot of ferrets who would bite. It is natural for them to do so if frightened or when they are not used to someone they know picking them up. But some are just downright nasty! However, I would play with all for hours at a time in order for them to get to know me. The young ones who would bite were easily cured, I would simply let them continue and actually push my hand to their mouth when they did. This would cause a natural gag reflex and the ferret would pull their head away from my hand, after 2 or 3 times of this the ferret would lose complete interest in biting.
(Mind you, trying to do that with very young ferrets is not a good idea, they see anything that moves as food!)
Ferrets will also use their own dung pile, usually within their own cage. I would suggest that you wait until your ferret has completed her toilet before letting her out of the cage, that way she will quickly get used to the idea that if she uses her toilet she will be let out to play, just a suggestion.

BTW did you know that a female ferret is refered to as a Jill and a male as a Hob?

Thank you for replying, Rarius.
All you said could be useful. I thought the
little fact at the end of your post was very interesting. I didn't know that. (Then again, I don't know much about ferrets.)
Thank you!

-AnimalAngel