ferret biting!

Question
Hi, after reading  through so many informative topics, I am so glad many of my questions have been answered.  I am a little confused about a biting ferret tho.  Am I to understand that a ferret biting ME is a bored ferret?  Or just a cage biting ferret?  Mine gets a lot of outside the cage play, but she loves to find anyone in the family and bite feet, or climb up arms and lick, then bite! This is driving us crazy, as she does it under any circumstances, and doesn't seem to care about  being disciplined for it.  I got her from a couple who were bored with her, and said she never came out of her cage!, so I assumed this is an ingrained behavioral problem from being alone so much.  Any ideas??  Thank you very much for all the great information!

Answer
Glad you could find answers to your questions.  A great book is called Ferrets for Dummies - a great resource for new ferret owners and us old timers!

Cage biting is usually a boredom issue.  Biting people is another issue altogether.  It sounds like she is just really excited and unsure of what is Ok.  When a ferrets gets excited they sort of lose all sense of themselves and their surroundings.  The best solution is usually patience and not getting upset or making any sudden moves.  Sudden moves would only excite her more as they can't awlays see very well.  I would suggest that initially you wear shoes to help with the feet (ferrets have a thing for feet probably the smell) and pay attention to her around your feet or when she climbs up on you.  As she gets playful, just remove her (from your feet or body) put her on the floor and encourage her to play with a toy.  If she does bite, you can always yell like another ferret would to let her know that isn't Ok.  Also, if she does bite when you are holding her, don't put her down or she will learn to bite to be put down.
I really think some consistency, patience and general play time will help a lot.  She hasn't had much of a chance to be a playful ferret it seems in a long while.
Good Luck and happy ferret ownership!