Biting/collar/sleep

Question
Last week, I got my first ferret, Nina.  She is probably 8-9 weeks old, and the reason I picked her was because she was the most lively and playful of the group at the pet store. She does very well with her litter box, and she already knows what the command "go potty!" means (sometimes she even fakes it :-)

But, there are a few things that I'm concerned about.  The first night I had her, she bit me pretty hard.  She didn't seem scared, but maybe playful or "attack mode".  I didn't think much of it, since I'm pretty tough and even though it drew blood, it was by the fingernail, so it was easy to draw blood.  But the next day, she bit my sister and drew blood, my girlfriend and drew blood, and my brother and drew blood.  Every time, I would say "NO!" and put her back in her cage for a time out.  But when I got her out, she'd try to bite again.  It seems like she has an obsession with fingers, because her eyes follow them around constantly when I'm playing with her.  I tried scruffing her, but she either sees the hand coming and tries to bite, or will turn her head around to try to bite.  I don't think she's trying to hurt us, but she is.  My girlfriend is now deathly afraid of her :)  I'd rather not use the bitter apple spray since she would just smell it before she bit it, but I'm willing to try anything.

Second, she loves playing with her collar, but just doesn't like it around her neck :-)  Since I'm sort of afraid to hold her down since she is so prone to biting, it's hard to even get it on her.  I think the collar is too big, since she slips out of it fairly easily.  Should I wait til she's older and bigger to try to get the collar on her?  I'd like to have her wearing a collar soon, though, since the bell helps me keep track of her.

Lastly, some of her sisters at the pet store slept very deeply.  We picked them up, shook them, and tried our hardest to wake them up, but they were fast asleep.  Nina is not this way at all.  She wakes at the slightest bump.  Plus, she rarely sleeps at all.  It seems like she always wants to get out and play.  I give her plenty of play time, but it's never enough.  Is this just a sign of her age as well.  Will she be sleep more, and more deeply as she ages?

Thank you so much for your help, and I just love my little ferret...even with all her flaws :-)  Thanks for all the good tips!

Answer
Hi Nathan,

I have 20 ferrets and none of mine have ever liked collars and they don't stay on well.  My ferrets are confined to one room though and I put plexi glass in the doorway so they can just have that room to play in when they are out.  Squeeker toys usually make a ferret come to you if you decided not to use a collar.

Baby ferrets do bite hard as they play with each other that way and they have tough skin.  Scruffing her neck is good but after you do that and say NO then put her close to you, but where she can't bite and give her loves.  Also put Ferretone or Nutrical on them or your finger as a treat to teach them not to bite.  Some ferrets sleep deeply (especially older ferrets).  That's not alway a good thing but some never sleep deeply.  They are just all different.  I have a 9 year old ferret that sleeps really deeply then she'll wake up and start wandering around.  Back to biting, you can try Bitter Apple but I think rewarding with treats is better then they learn to love instead of bite.

Mary