In the last section, we mentioned why a ferret may bite as a kit. Though this is completely natural behavior for them as babies, it is still important to train them to stop.
Your Ferret Does Not Get Enough Time Outside the Cage
Moose seeing the world
If a ferret does not receive enough time out of the cage (minimum of 4-6 hours per day) they will become stressed and antisocial. This lack of stimulation will cause a ferret to become timid and possibly aggressive. As we taught you in Chapter 1: What is a Ferret? The Ultimate Ferret Guide, ferrets are much more closely related to a dog or a cat -they are not meant to spend their lives locked away in a cage.
You Do Not Handle Your Ferret Regularly
Haley with Newt
Do you handle your ferret regularly? Do you play with them at least 4 hours per day? If not, your ferret may lack the special bond that tells them you are family -and not a threat.
Your Ferret Bites Because He is in Pain
Is your ferret in pain? Ferrets can be quite clumsy and are known to get into potentially harmful trouble. Is your normally friendly ferret aggressive when you touch a certain part of their body? Perhaps they injured themselves while playing or ate something they shouldn’t have and got a stomach ache.
Your Ferret is an Unneutered Male
Most ferrets in the United States are neutered before they are sold at the pet store. Did you get your ferret from a private breeder? You may have a male ferret on your hands who is going through something called rut. This is his mating season and it can turn even the most docile ferret into a bully!
Your Ferret Bites Because He is Scared
Is your ferret in a brand new environment? Did you just take him home? Did you introduce a new pet into the household? Perhaps your ferret feels threatened by all these big changes and he is trying to assert himself to feel safe.
Im trying so hard to get my dominant ferret to not attack my new baby. I have 4 in total. The other 2 play with him but bandit focuses on where the new guy is and dooks all over trying to get at him. It’s been few months now. I alternate who comes out to play. But would love to just get them all out at once. I belong to so many ferret groups but seen to be ridiculed and not advised on how to get t his process done safely. Bandit has left marks on Chester and obviously I don’t let him go at him anymore. I want them all out all the time but now playtime is restricted sadly. Breaks my heart.
My daughter picked up a grown female ferret from a pet store about 8 months ago. the ferret loves to be out of the cage and comes right out to you as soon as you open the cage door but then she chases everyone she sees and bites any bare skin she finds. if you are wearing pants and shoes she will try and go up your leg to find skin. If you are wearing gloves she will not bite the gloves but will try and turn to go up your arm and bite bare skin. my grandson loves her but she has drawn blood on him many times so he wears gloves when he handles her now. My son does not react when she bites him but she will just hang from his leg or hand with blood sometimes trickling down. So not reacting does not work., putting her back in her cage does not work, letting her have run of the house to get her energy out has not worked and my grandson handling her with gloves has not worked. It’s not like she is scared. It’s like she has fun acting like a thug. Help
Hi Sherry, sounds like you have a particularly bad biter. Female ferrets tend to be more energetic and when combined with no bite inhibition it can lead to exactly your situation. I highly recommend using the timeout method described here: https://www.themodernferret.com/how-to-stop-ferret-biting/ Make sure the timeout bin is boring, dark, and plain, a tall empty recycling bin for example. On EVERY bite that is bad, put her in timeout. If she gnaws with her mouth or just lightly grazes on you, do not penalize that – that is her learning what is acceptable and what is not. As soon as she bites hard though, in she goes. This will take about 2 to 4 weeks for her to learn full bite inhibition. We had a particularly bad biter once, and with this method, she was licking our nose safely by the end of 3 weeks. The first day of training she went into the time-out bin FIFTEEN times!!
Why Adult Ferrets Bite
My ferret bites! Why? Welcome to Part 2: Why Adult Ferrets Bite of our 3 part series on ferret biting.
If you are already well versed on why your ferret may be biting, feel free to skip to Part 3: How to Stop Ferret Biting.
In this article, we will provide you with important insight into what your adult ferret is trying to tell you.
6 Reasons Ferrets Bite
If a ferret is past their nipping phase as a kit (due to teething and bite inhibition), there may be other reasons for biting.
Here are the Most Common Reasons a Ferret Bites:
Your Ferret was not Bite Trained as a Kit
In the last section, we mentioned why a ferret may bite as a kit. Though this is completely natural behavior for them as babies, it is still important to train them to stop.
Your Ferret Does Not Get Enough Time Outside the Cage
If a ferret does not receive enough time out of the cage (minimum of 4-6 hours per day) they will become stressed and antisocial. This lack of stimulation will cause a ferret to become timid and possibly aggressive. As we taught you in Chapter 1: What is a Ferret? The Ultimate Ferret Guide, ferrets are much more closely related to a dog or a cat -they are not meant to spend their lives locked away in a cage.
You Do Not Handle Your Ferret Regularly
Do you handle your ferret regularly? Do you play with them at least 4 hours per day? If not, your ferret may lack the special bond that tells them you are family -and not a threat.
Your Ferret Bites Because He is in Pain
Is your ferret in pain? Ferrets can be quite clumsy and are known to get into potentially harmful trouble. Is your normally friendly ferret aggressive when you touch a certain part of their body? Perhaps they injured themselves while playing or ate something they shouldn’t have and got a stomach ache.
Your Ferret is an Unneutered Male
Most ferrets in the United States are neutered before they are sold at the pet store. Did you get your ferret from a private breeder? You may have a male ferret on your hands who is going through something called rut. This is his mating season and it can turn even the most docile ferret into a bully!
Your Ferret Bites Because He is Scared
Is your ferret in a brand new environment? Did you just take him home? Did you introduce a new pet into the household? Perhaps your ferret feels threatened by all these big changes and he is trying to assert himself to feel safe.
Now that you know why a ferret bites, want to learn how to make them stop? Check out Part 2: How to Stop Ferret Biting.
3 replies to “Why Adult Ferrets Bite”
Ann Mejias
Im trying so hard to get my dominant ferret to not attack my new baby. I have 4 in total. The other 2 play with him but bandit focuses on where the new guy is and dooks all over trying to get at him. It’s been few months now. I alternate who comes out to play. But would love to just get them all out at once. I belong to so many ferret groups but seen to be ridiculed and not advised on how to get t his process done safely. Bandit has left marks on Chester and obviously I don’t let him go at him anymore. I want them all out all the time but now playtime is restricted sadly. Breaks my heart.
Sherry
My daughter picked up a grown female ferret from a pet store about 8 months ago. the ferret loves to be out of the cage and comes right out to you as soon as you open the cage door but then she chases everyone she sees and bites any bare skin she finds. if you are wearing pants and shoes she will try and go up your leg to find skin. If you are wearing gloves she will not bite the gloves but will try and turn to go up your arm and bite bare skin. my grandson loves her but she has drawn blood on him many times so he wears gloves when he handles her now. My son does not react when she bites him but she will just hang from his leg or hand with blood sometimes trickling down. So not reacting does not work., putting her back in her cage does not work, letting her have run of the house to get her energy out has not worked and my grandson handling her with gloves has not worked. It’s not like she is scared. It’s like she has fun acting like a thug. Help
Haley
Hi Sherry, sounds like you have a particularly bad biter. Female ferrets tend to be more energetic and when combined with no bite inhibition it can lead to exactly your situation. I highly recommend using the timeout method described here: https://www.themodernferret.com/how-to-stop-ferret-biting/
Make sure the timeout bin is boring, dark, and plain, a tall empty recycling bin for example. On EVERY bite that is bad, put her in timeout. If she gnaws with her mouth or just lightly grazes on you, do not penalize that – that is her learning what is acceptable and what is not. As soon as she bites hard though, in she goes. This will take about 2 to 4 weeks for her to learn full bite inhibition.
We had a particularly bad biter once, and with this method, she was licking our nose safely by the end of 3 weeks. The first day of training she went into the time-out bin FIFTEEN times!!
Don’t give up hope, and let us know how it goes.
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