# Vicious ear biting



## AlbaFearaidean (Jan 14, 2012)

Hi there, this is my first post and the actual reason I registered here. Nice to meet y'all. My name is Mike, and I live in Scotland. Okay, I have 3 ferrets, Waylon, Wallace and Willie. They are about a year and a half old, and all brothers. I got them from a shelter, a lady keeps a lot of ferrets and had them together in a big open cage. None of them are neutered yet, mostly because I didn't have the money to do it yet, so they are all entire males.

They live in my living room, which is a normal size room, plenty of space. I do not keep them in a cage, never have. I used to have 3 ferrets back in the states, two gibs and a sprite, they were also free to roam in the room and only slept in their cage, which was always open. However, I had less issues with them than I do with my ferrets here in Scotland. The ones here took a long time to get potty trained (after I got them at age 1), they would bite me (they rarely do it these days, if at all) and well, they were far more difficult than the ones I had before, but I did the best I could and they came a long way as far as behavior goes.

My problem is with Wallace, the white one (albino, not DEW). The other two are Sable colored. Sorry, don't know how to upload pictures here yet, or I would have them as my profile picture / avatar. Anyways, he is the most aggressive. He's the only one I cannot trust to be near my face. He bit me many times, viciously. One time he bit my chin, held on to it and wouldn't let go, there was a lot of blood and it really hurt. He bit me on the finger so bad one time that I could not pick banjo (my thing) for about a week. And many other times he attacked me when I was handling him. I handle him all the time to try to get him used to me, and I have disciplined him appropriately when he did bite me. Eventually, he stopped the biting, although I still remain very cautious. 

Regardless, I'm a big boy and I can handle a bite here and there. But his personality is best described one time when I slept on the floor of the living room with them loose (my girlfriend fell asleep on the couch). The other two ferrets woke up separately, and upon seeing me on the floor, they just sniffed me and went their way, to eat, drink water and go back to sleep. Wallace, on the other hand, sniffed my head, and then bit it quickly and viciously, then retreated to hide under the table, as if he knew, and I believe he did, that he did something very wrong. Thankfully, it was just my scalp, so it didn't hurt as bad, but it hurt me that he would be so crafty and hostile in order to hurt me. His personality is very strong, I wouldn't call it evil, because he's just an animal, but strong is the word I will stick to, but not in a pleasant way whatsoever, and that's just fact. He has a nasty attitude towards me and the others, the latter being the problem I'm actually concerned about.

The problem is that now he is biting the other two. I have read a lot about the issue on the web, but many of them do not apply to what's going on here. His bites are NOT playful anymore. The other ferrets cry out, and no matter how much I discipline him, he simply goes back to biting them as soon as sees I'm away. He bites them until their ears are bright red. Now they are clearly hurt and full of scabs. But the worst was yesterday, he literally tore Waylon's ear in half. Well, not half, but two thirds of it, Waylon's ear now has a big gash, like, missing a bit. It really upset me. I have been watching, and their ears got signs of abuse everywhere. I tried everything, disciplining on the spot when it happens, being stern and firm, then I tried the bitter apple spray, everything. Nothing worked. Unfortunately, I had to separate them yesterday. I put him in the back room. It's colder there, but I placed everything he needs there. The other two seem to be getting along just fine and there's no more crying or biting in the room.

But they are brothers, and I do not want to separate them permanently. But at the same time, I do not want him to hurt his brothers as well. I don't like having him back there alone. But today I put him back here for a few minutes to see it he would behave, after being alone, and nope, didn't improve. First thing he did was to walk up to his brother sleeping and commence the vicious biting once again. He actually dragged one of them out of their sleeping place and I had to put him back. I do not know what is the cause of his behavior, I spend ALL my time around them and I am very nice to them. They have treats, toys, two sleeping places which they use alternatively, the room is a pleasant temperature (not too hot, not too cold), plenty of food, water and everything is always cleaned. I can't blame myself on this one as far as I can see, but I ain't no expert. If there's anything I can do, I will.

So, with all due considerations, what would y'all suggest me to do? I appreciate any help, thanks in advance. Oh, and there are no signs of adrenal cancer, loss of hair, nothing like that.


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## DKDREAM (Sep 15, 2008)

your 3 ferrets will be inseason now and fighting for dominance things could get really nasty, my advice is get him neutered asap this could also be the reason why he is biting you, some ferrets dont handle seasons well and become nippy. 

I have known two whole males live together infact 2 of mine do, they have done for 4 years without issues But they are brothers and have lived together from birth but as a rule entire male ferrets should never be kept together.


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

I've never had a ferret i've just done a bit of background reading on them so you can ignore me if you wish.

Neutering should help to reduce the dominance displays and aggression towards each other. Also read if you scruff him and drag him across the floor it shows that you are alpha male, apparently it's something they would do to each other to establish dominance.

If they are already being that aggressive towards each other I would keep them split, at least untill after they've been snipped.


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## DKDREAM (Sep 15, 2008)

its most likely hormones that is making him bite his owner and the other ferrets the fact they are kept indoors will mean they will never go out of season either so the problem will always be there. Only way to stop it is to castrate him but even then will take upto 4 month for him to calm


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Sounds like they all need the snip I'm afraid


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## AlbaFearaidean (Jan 14, 2012)

Thank you for the replies, folks. Sorry for not replying them earlier, I was offline for a few days. Yesterday, I coincidentally met the lady who sold me the ferrets while shopping groceries. She's a very nice lady from England that lives up here. I talked about it, and she came to the same conclusion, that they need to be castrated. She was kind enough to offer to make an appointment for me with her vet, and not only that, she will be kind enough to drive them to the neighboring town when the day comes! So, I reckon I'm off the hook. We'll start with the white one, Wallace, the aforementioned more aggressive one, or actually, so far, the only aggressive one. The reason I am not doing them all at once is financial, I don't have enough money. But I'll be getting them all fixed within the next three months.

So yeah, she also mentioned that it will be a while after that for his hormones to go down and the aggressive behavior to diminish. I came here to let y'all know that the problem will be dealt with, and am surprised to see that you folks came to the exact same conclusion.

Thank you very much, appreciate all the replies and thankful for your help.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Thats great news, I'm sure there breeder will be very supportive and be able to give you plenty of after care advice. Let us know how it goes


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## AlbaFearaidean (Jan 14, 2012)

Sure thing, I'll keep y'all posted. I'm looking forward to have it done this week or whenever the appointment is made. I love my ferrets and like them to be together, so if that keeps them from being separated, it will make me, and ultimately them, very happy.


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