Biting

[airy]

Okay, Loki is not a biter, he never bites me or anyone..well he will nip your feet if you are wearing socks or your hands if you are wearing gloves but as far as I know that is normal ferret behavior, but here is the problem, He bites my hubby on the wrist all the time, and not nip but actual bites latching on and drawing blood, my hubby is very good to him as with the other ferrets and babies them nearly as much as I do so he has no reason to fear him and plus Loki follows him around all over the house and will play and cuddle with him so I am sure Loki loves him, but if he is holding him a certain way Loki will go right for his wrist and he only does it with him and nobody else. I am wondering if it is because my hubby has tattoo sleeves and all the colors in the his skin possibly frighten him?? he only does it when my husband is in a tee shirt and his arms are revealed. I know ferrets do not have good eyesight..not sure how well the see colors but that is the only thing that we can come up with, I tried holding my wrist up to his mouth and nothing, he only does this to my husband.

[Tressie]

Is your husband a smoker? Some ferrets HATE the smell of cigarette (and other kinds) of smoke.

Its either an old trigger for Loki, for example, someone from his past, who might have hurt him when bare-armed OR its related to a particular smell your husband has on his arms/hands that Loki doesn't like.

You also mention that he does it when your husband 'holds him a certain way' - the obvious next step is for your husband not to hold him that way. Remember it is infinitely easier for us to change our behaviour than to expect a ferret to change theirs.

Tressie

[Johnny and Demon]

"I know ferrets do not have good eyesight..not sure how well the see colors but that is the only thing that we can come up with, I tried holding my wrist up to his mouth and nothing, he only does this to my husband." - airy

Well .. maybe I'm crazy BUT Johnny always try to steal a certain pair of socks. He's not biting my feet; just the socks. Its grey with pink spot on it lol All socks with the same marking seem to drive him crazy but not the others. Maybe its not about the color, maybe its just depending on his mood lol Anyhow .. Just like Tressie said, maybe its just about the way he holds Loki ?

[airy]

Actually, I worded that wrongly, When I meant hold him a certain way I meant hold him in a position where Loki's teeth have access to my husbands wrist lol. Loki hasn't been biting him as much lately but it still happens, yes my husband smokes, but so do I(we smoke outside of course, so if he smells cigarette smoke on him, then why wont he bite me, also I am going to note, my husband is really the only male in Loki's life, so maybe this is just gender specific aggression?? I know Loki does love my hubby because he often follows him around the house like a lost puppy, will take a nap with him and they often play together, so I do not think Loki fears him, he just really seems to hate his wrist for some reason.

[Johnny and Demon]

Maybe he just wants you're husband's attention ? Johnny sometimes bit my boyfriend toes and nap a little when he wants to play. Sometimes he also nap a little when he is too happy lol For some reasons both of my ferrets only bite my boyfriend ? But he's playing with them more than me (sometime I call him the "big ferret" lol). So everytime he is watching the tv or just want to give them a few cuddles .. they nap ! If he starts to play with them, they don't nap, they just play, dook and go in war dance lol I always thought it was just a way for ferrets to get our attention ? But my ferrets really nap us a LITTLE .. I'm not sure if its the same situation if your ferret actually BITES your husband .. Its kinda weird

[Tressie]

Well it certainly could be gender specific!

In terms of cigarette odor on skin, some skin retains the odor longer as do some fabrics. Non-smokers often notice that some people reek of cigarette smoke while they are surprized to find out that others even smoke. Some of this of course has to do with the amount a person smokes, but not always.

Easy test to see if it is the smell of cigarettes on your husband that is setting Loki off - ask your husband to wash his hands thoroughly after he smokes and see if that makes a difference. You'll know fairly quickly if it does.

Tressie

[Johnny and Demon]

Can it really be gender specific !?
I thought pets "need" a reason to act like that lol ?

[Tressie]

If Loki had a bad experience with a human male in the past he could generalize that fear to all human males.

My rescue Donnola, who I adopted last December, the one who was a serious biter (story in Ferrets Magazine) will attack human males because she was badly abused by 2 males. One of my male friends tried to get her to trust him but it was futile. She can't seem to be able to trust males. Not to say eventually she couldn't learn but I don't have enough regular male company who is willing to get repeatedly bitten until she learns to trust.

If I am expecting guests, I simply put her in the ferret room, for everybody's safety and her peace of mind.

There is ALWAYS a reason for unusual behaviour. Key is to figure out what it is.

Gosh it could be something as simple as Loki doesn't like the smell of the soap your husband uses.

Curious its not his wrist watch side that he bites at is it? Ferrets are known to try to remove watches, necklaces, rings, earings, from the person wearing them. Depends on whether the fuzzbutt has a particular liking for a certain kind of object.

Now if he were grabbing him with his teeth and trying to pull on him, believe it or not, that is a show of affection, i.e., the ferret is trying to stash his favourite human.

Tressie

[Johnny and Demon]

"Curious its not his wrist watch side that he bites at is it? Ferrets are known to try to remove watches, necklaces, rings, earings, from the person wearing them. Depends on whether the fuzzbutt has a particular liking for a certain kind of object."

Johnny is always trying to remove my necklaces or belts .. maybe Loki thinks your husband's tatoo is an object ? Or maybe like Tressie said, its just an odour like the soap your husband is using ? did your husband hold it the same way with his other arm ?

[airy]

Oct 30, 2009 19:22:20 GMT -4 Johnny and Demon said:

"Curious its not his wrist watch side that he bites at is it? Ferrets are known to try to remove watches, necklaces, rings, earings, from the person wearing them. Depends on whether the fuzzbutt has a particular liking for a certain kind of object."

Johnny is always trying to remove my necklaces or belts .. maybe Loki thinks your husband's tatoo is an object ? Or maybe like Tressie said, its just an odour like the soap your husband is using ? did your husband hold it the same way with his other arm ?

Well my hubby does have his own soap he uses(Irish Spring yuck!!) me and the kids refuse to use that kind, so maybe that is why, I am curious now as to if Loki will stop biting if he switched to another soap..Im gonna ask him to

[Johnny and Demon]

hahaha Loki probably finds Irish Spring soap yucky too .. he's trying to say : "hey dad ! I hate that soap, change it NOW" ! haha ohh sorry but I have to laugh