Firstly lets be very clear about this, ferrets bite. They are not nasty or vicious and they should not be thought of as dangerous or malicious. Ferrets bite for many reasons, to interact socially, to explore, to defend, to play and you need to understand why your ferret is biting and take the appropriate steps to modify their and your behavior.

Lets start with the social and playful reasons for biting. Put two ferrets together in a room and stand back! My lot love to nip each other, giggle and then run around chasing each other causing mayhem. You love your ferrets right, so it is only right that they will invite you to play as well by giving you a nip.

If I give my lot anything new they invariably will give it a sniff and then a bite just to see what it is. Sometimes new things include strangers or other animals that just need to be explored.

Finally defensive biting will always happen when a ferret feels threatened. I can't say that I have seen much of this behavior as I keep my ferrets safe and sound and do not have any other big pets, like dogs, for them to be afraid of.

So now you understand why they bite you can figure out the best way to stop it. For the playful bite, I have successfully trained all four of my ferrets using a simple technique. A bitter spray applied to my hands and feet that they hate the smell and taste of together with a firm verbal command .... 'OW - No Biting'. I know that others suggest the use of a time out or a tap on the nose but I prefer not to use these methods. A tap on the nose easily becomes a flick and then the situation turns from a playful nip to a defensive one and the whole thing escalates, besides I love my fuzzballs too much to flick any part of them. After a few days using the bitter spray your ferret will start to avoid your fingers and toes and if they get carried away the verbal command alone usually sorts them out.

The exploring nip is managed by introducing new things, people and other animals slowly, calmly and in a controlled manner always supervised. Smearing new objects with ferretone (if you can get it, mail me if you have any spare please!) turns a nip into a lick.

Defensive bites are avoided by taking the fear and anxiety away.

Good luck with your ferret training. I have four ferrets who never bite. We sometimes play games and they will grab me with their teeth to show that they have won, but we never break the skin and my initial days of a ferret hanging off my finger and blood being spilled (mine) are now long gone.