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tractorgirl's avatar

Do i keep trying to get my ferret out of its cage?

Asked by tractorgirl (15 points ) July 29th, 2009

i bought 2 new ferrets on monday,they were well handled when i got them at first there were no when i go to get them out of their cage one of them is a bit jumpy and she has lunged at me a few times,i dont know if this is play or if she means to attack me she hasnt caught me yet,do i keep trying to take her out? the other one comes to the door when i open it and is fine apart from the normal play nipping,when they are both out they are both happy to be picked up its just getting the jumpy one to come out thats the problem!! what should i do??

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11 Answers

sandystrachan's avatar

Keep trying to take them out, be very slow but very firm . You also have to stop the nipping , if you don’t tackle that problem now you will never get them to stop nipping .
Chances are when you open the door and try take it out it gets a fright, when i let my ferret out i let him come to my hand rather than towering over him .
Also if they are male and female you will get babies , split them or dress them people think that dressing a ferret will stop the aggression .

BlueTree's avatar

I don’t have much first hand experience, but I’ve read a bit about ferret keeping in anticipation of the day when my living circumstances will finally allow me to have one. What I’ve been told, and this has worked on one rather uppity ferret that I got to play with, is that if the ferret is simply biting too hard, flick it gently but firmly on the nose and say (again, gently but firmly) ‘no’. However, if the previous answer is right, then it seems like doing this may just increase the fright of being taken out. If play biting does get too hard, though, this might be something to keep in mind.

tractorgirl's avatar

they are both females so no babies i hope!!! i think part of the problem might be my fear of taking a nasty bite so i think your right and i should just keep trying and maybe risk that and correct it if it happens.

DrasticDreamer's avatar

Don’t use any kind of physical discipline on your ferrets – they don’t and never will respond to it. It will just scare and confuse them. There’s a chance that the ferret who won’t come out of the cage on her own simply has even more energy than the other one. I have two ferrets and one of them, when she gets hyper, loves to lunge at us. She never bites when she does it, but she definitely puts her all into playtime. She does play-bite, but there’s a big difference between that and an actual bite.

It could also be that because your ferrets are in a new environment, the more aggressive ferret could still be a little nervous and she basically may have claimed the cage as her own safe-feeling territory. If you’re afraid that she’s actually going to bite you, I suggest buying some ferret treats and holding them right outside of the open door. Let her come to you and grab them out of your hand. Once she takes the treats from your hands, she’ll start to associate positive feelings when coming out of the cage instead of negative feelings. Softly talk to her the entire time. It might take a little, but she should eventually come around.

ABoyNamedBoobs03's avatar

Ferrets are great pets, and they’re very smart. if they bite you hard, so much so that it hurts a firm “no” and perhaps a gentle tap on their nose to get it’s attention usually works after a few scolds. If it doesn’t, tab a little hotsauce on you’re finger and let then nip you, they’ll learn pretty quick that it’s no fun to bite you.

they really are great pets though, I have two of my own, litter trained, they just roam around my house, come when I call them, and they know a few tricks like dancing, doing somersaults, fetching, etc. you’ll get out whatever you put in with a ferret.

sandystrachan's avatar

Blowing on the nose tends to make them stop .
As a sad note my ferret got poisoned ( and not by us ) the other week, it was not able to walk so it had to be put down

bags's avatar

@sandystrachan I’m so sorry to hear about your ferret. How terrible!

tractorgirl's avatar

aww poor ferret, one of the ferrets i wrote about when i posted this has also been put down since i posted the question, she fell from one of the ledges in her cage and bumped her head on the way down, it was awful!! bless her!! ive now got a male to go with the one that was left. i can honestly say i can never see myself not having ferrets they are such a great pet!!

kitchi1's avatar

Ferrets need playtime. They need left out everyday. So, yes, keep trying to get them out of the cage. But be quiet and slow. Be very gentle.

When they nip, say, “ouch!” and act like it hurt you even if it didn’t. If they think it hurt you they won’t want to do it again. (This works with dogs. I don’t know about ferrets because all the ferrets I’ve had so far didn’t bite)
If they nip at you when they’re outside of their cage, then put them into their cage or a minute as if they’re having a time out. Don’t physically disipline them.

tractorgirl's avatar

ide forgotten all about asking this question. ive had my ferrets for a while now and they have never bitten me, however they do love to hold my finger and take me where they want me to be!!

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