bitin my hand and crawling

Question
Hi i am a new ferret owner. I have a five month old girl and just got her yesterday. She doesnt seem to play alot but she does like to walk around and sniff things. This morning i found her cuddled next to my bed instead of being in her cage(which i leave the door open). When i pick her up sometimes she bites my hand but when i try to use a toy for her to play with she wont take it. Also she doesnt walk up tall it looks more like she's crawling can u tell me are these behaviors normal

Answer
Hi Keyonna,

Congratulations on being a new ferret parent! I am so happy for you and your new little girl.

Ferrets are extremely curious creatures, so it doesn't surprise me that she isn't really playing yet. Since she just got into a new home, she is probably just sniffing everything and learning where everything is. I'm not worried about this behavior at all. Give her some time to adjust, and you should see her playing and running around all happy in no time!

As for the other part of your question, I'm not really sure what you mean. Ferret are close to the ground anyway, so maybe it is just her normal walk that you aren't used to seeing. Also, ferrets usually keep their noses to the ground. Our kids only walk with their heads up when they are running from each other (or us) when they are playing. Other than that, it is nose to the ground to take in all those interesting smells. Is your little girl eating, drinking and pooping normally? Is she lethargic? If she is acting normal, then she is probably just fine, but if you are uncomfortable with something she is doing and you think she might be sick, you should have her checked out by a ferret veterinarian. Have you picked out a vet yet? Here are a few lists for you if you haven't picked one yet. These links will (hopefully) help you find a ferret knowledgeable vet. It is important to have a vet that is specific to ferrets because they aren't like cats and dogs. If you take your little girl to someone who doesn't know what they are doing, it could be dangerous to her health!


VETS CANADA:   
* http://www.ferretrescue.ca/start.php
* http://tinylink.com/?TlVyYKa6e0
* http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm   (British Columbia)
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/sask_ferrets/

VETS USA:
* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

VETS  UK & IRELAND:  
* http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/vetlist.htm

VET INFO/ LIST OF FERRET GROUPS/ CONTACTS IN UK, ITALY, NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA, NETHERLANDS, GERMANY & DENMARK:       
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-overseas.html (scroll down page to find the one you are looking for)

And about the biting, she might be biting your hand out of play. Ferrets play extremely rough with other ferrets. They bite and wrestle and tackle each other. They don't feel it when they get bitten because they have such tough skin. Unfortunately, they don't know that their humans don't have tough skin like theirs. To try and eliminate this behavior, you can try doing something called the "scruff and snuggle". When she bites you too hard, gently scruff her and say in a firm voice, "no". Then snuggle her against your chest and talk to her and pet her. This will let her know that you aren't going to hurt her and that she is safe with you. If she does it a second time, repeat the "scruff and snuggle". If she does it a third time, you should repeat the "scruff and snuggle", and then put her in her cage (or in a cat carrier, if you prefer) for a ten minute time out. Then, you can let her back out to play again and restart the "three strikes, you're out" routine. This takes a lot of patience. Also, you should remember that ferrets bite when they play. When she nips you, it shouldn't be more than a little play bite that doesn't hurt. When she just gently play nips you, you should reward her with lots of praise and maybe a treat. That way she'll know how rough she can play with you. Another thing to remember: you should never hit your ferret, or any other animal. Even a tap on the nose when she bites too hard is too much because she may start associating you with fear and aggression and she may bite you even harder to protect herself.

Now, I don't know what you are feeding your new little girl, but here is a very good link that I like to give to new ferret owners. It is a chart that lists all the foods people usually feed to ferrets and the best foods are at the top. As you go down the list, the foods get lower and lower in ranking and I'll tell you why in a minute. You will probably want to stay with a nine or a ten. I wouldn't suggest going below a nine.

http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_treats.html

When looking at food, you want to make sure that corn, soy and wheat (or any similar products) aren't listed in the first three ingredients. Ferrets can't digest these products so having them as part of the normal diet is not a good idea. It is also better to feed a food that has no by-products in it because by-products don't have as much nutrition as meat products do. It is also good practice to mix a few high quality foods together and give that to ferrets because if one ever goes off the market, you won't have to worry about having to get them switched to a new food.

Treats are a good bonding idea for you and your ferret, but if her diet is well balanced enough, treats aren't actually needed. When thinking about treats, you want to stick with things that have very high protein. Packaged lunch meat sounds like a good idea, but shouldn't be given to ferrets because it has additives and lots of sodium in it; not good for little fuzzy tummies. Eggs are a good treat. You could hard boil an egg and feed him the yolk; the yolk is very good for them. If you don' t want to hard boil them, you could give him scrambled eggs, over easy eggs, poached eggs. You could give them raw if you like, as well. Just make sure that you don't season the eggs.

Meats are a very good treat. You can feed them raw or cooked. Ferrets tend to enjoy chicken livers and hearts. If you have access to a dehydrator, you can make your own unseasoned jerky for your girl to enjoy. Insects can be a good source of protein for ferrets. Small animals (such as mice, chicks, and rats) can also be fed as a treat or a normal diet. Some people advocate a more natural diet for ferrets and others still love the kibble; it is up to you. Do some research into it and see what you find. It may be a good idea to supplement your kibble diet with some feeder mice or chicks once in a while, at least, to give them a treat, extra nutrients, and to give them a little variety. Meat baby food can be given as a treat as well. If you get your little girl used to meat baby food now, if they ever become ill, you can give that to them to help keep their strength up. Finally, if they like their kibble, they might see it as a treat if you feed it to them by hand!

In a lot of ferret care manuals, they will tell you that soft fruits and raisins are good for your fuzzy to eat. This isn't necessarily true. Fruits have sugars in them and sugars aren't good for ferrets at all. Feeding sugar to your ferret can lead to insulinoma, which is similar to diabetes. Also, ferrets really can't digest fruits, or vegetables for that matter. Both of these things should be avoided. As for raisins, people give them to their ferrets as a treat, but they really shouldn't. Raisins have a lot of sugar in them as well. Also, it has recently been proven that as little as five raisins can take the life of an otherwise healthy ferret. Stick to meats and proteins. You can also give Ferretone as a treat and it can also be used when you are clipping the girls' nails. It is an amazing distraction. Try putting a little on their bellies and sticking their noses in it. Most ferrets take right to it.

If you are going to switch their food, the switch should be GRADUAL!! When ferrets get fed a certain food young in life, it is extremely difficult to switch their food. Start off with about 85% old food, 15% new food and feed that for at least a week. Next time, try upping the new food percentage a little and going down on the old food percentage, and so on. This should be a few week process at least. Probably over the course of a month or two. I don't mean to make it seem like I am assuming that you are feeding your little one a horrible food or anything, it is just information that I like giving to new ferret parents.


Also, here are some websites that are really great for general knowledge:

HEAT STROKE:

KEEP FERRET ENVIRONMENT UNDER 80-degrees F, 26degrees C
* http://miamiferret.org/fhc/faq.htm#diarrhea   
*(scroll down page to heatstroke)
http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/index.html

CAGE RECOMMENDATIONS: http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/ferret/
* FERRET VILLA .........cost: $84     
*  NEW ENGLANDER.......cost: $173
*  TOWNHOUSE F-450.....cost:  $190


FERRETPROOFING (do this BEFORE bringing a ferret home if possible):
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/part2.html#ferretproofing
* http://groups.msn.com/Ferret/yourwebpage10.msnw
* http://groups.msn.com/Ferret/ferretproofing2.msnw


GENERAL INFO - ALL TOPICS: (PERFECT FOR FOLKS CONSIDERING OR NEW OWNERS)
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret#See_also
*http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferret_school/ferretschool_aboutferrets.html
*http://www.ferretcentral.org   & scroll down to topic necessary
*http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferret_school/ferretschool_aboutferrets.html
*http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ask_angela/index.html

GROUPS ONLINE (USA):
* http://groups.msn.com/FERRET---AlternateMessageBoard/messages.msnw
* http://groups.msn.com/mynorwegianferretfamily/myferretgroup.msnw
* http://www.ferretuniverse.com/
* http://groups.msn.com/ferret/_homepage.msnw?pgmarket=en-us

GROUPS ONLINE (UK):
* http://uk.msnusers.com/CFWRS/links.msnw



I know, all of this is really overwhelming, but so much goes into the care of these little guys! If you ever have any other questions, please let me know, and I will help you in any way I can! I hope this information helped!


Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews