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Love Bites and Naughty Nips

© Pam McInnis

As with all creatures, each ferret has a unique personality. There are the sleepy ones, the playful ones, the cuddly ones and the shy ones. Then there are the ones I call “wild weasels.”

Occasionally, you’ll find yourself sharing your home with a biter. This is a tough situation, but with love and hard work most biters can be “nipped in the bud.”

Ferrets nip for one of two reasons. Some use their teeth as a way to gain attention or to engage you in play. Ferrets have tough skin and if you have more than one, you might see them rolling across the floor in one huge lump of weasel. When I brought my ferret Robyn home, she immediately pounced Weaz, and before I knew they were clucking and bouncing. I was frightened when Weaz grabbed Robyn by the scruff of the neck and dragged her across the floor.

I flew across the room and separated them, expecting Robyn to hide or curl in my arms for protection. Instead she hopped out of my grasp and danced over to Weaz for a re-match.

Sometimes when ferrets “wrestle”, there is aggression or a dominance battle involved. These rough playtimes should be observed and monitored closely, and ferrets should be separated if one chatters or cries in discomfort. But in many cases, both are enjoying themselves. What looks painful to us is amusing to them.

However, this love of rough play can create discomfort for human types. Although playful ferrets rarely nip hard enough to break skin, the experience can still be painful. A ferret who can take a nip or two in stride doesn’t understand that a bite on the ankle of a human will be more likely to get them a cry of pain than a wrestling match.

If your ferret makes clucking or “dooking” noises and dances about before or after nipping you, he’s not trying to hurt you. He’s trying to get you involved in a good game of wrestling or chase the weasel.

Not all nips are this well-intentioned. There are ferrets for whom biting is an expression of aggression, usually brought on by fear or discomfort. Perhaps you are holding a new ferret and he squirms wildly before nipping at your hand or arm. Or maybe he scoots into a corner, arching his back and “hissing” before biting you when you try to retrieve him. In these cases, your ferret is biting because he feels threatened.