# New Ferret Showing Anxiety and Aggression - Help or Advice?



## Jamescb92 (Jun 10, 2020)

Hey all,
Myself and my wife recently purchased our second ferret Ramen!
At first everything seemed pretty good he's 2 years old and neutered, although we're not completely sure how he was treated prior to us purchasing him, we do know he has always been fed raw and lived most of his life in a cage with other ferrets, He's also fairly underweight which we're hoping to improve with a constant supply of food. He was a bouncy bundle of dooks and happiness. But a couple of days after getting him things started to turn a little sideways.

During a free roaming play session he began scratching at the carpet (something our original ferret Noodle does on occasion too) Usually with our ferret Noodle, a quick spritz of water or scruffing works very well resulting in a yawn and then release and pets from us to show there are no hard feelings, when I attempted to scruff Ramen though all hell broke loose and it was as if someone put a blender inside him and he began thrashing violently, when I attempted to get a grip on him in the hopes he would calm down, he tore into my hands causing very deep bites both through flesh and finger nail.

Since then he's also begun biting my wife's ankles but only when she's not wearing thick socks. Otherwise he's not interested.

Now it's almost impossible to pick him up without wearing thick gloves and we always ensure to show him our hands first, but he quickly scurries away, making it quite difficult to get him back into his cage without sustaining injuries to the hands and wrists... or whatever he can grab in his frenzy.
Everything else he does is fairly normal, he's worked out how the litter box should be used.
He snuggles up in his bedding and will even occasionally play.

Any advice or tips you could give would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks in advance..

Adding Photos for gore factor!


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## Pawtastic Petz (Jul 10, 2019)

Have you had any luck with this boy since making your post thread, I've only just logged on after months of not being on so haven't seen it until now. I'm surprised nobody has given you any advice already.... 
Are you sure he's a full ferret and not a polecat hybrid? Their temperament can be similar to his which is why I'm asking. I've found that no chew spray directly onto hands helps with bitey ones as they don't like the taste. They don't like apple cider vinegar taste either so that makes a good alternative to no chew spray


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## Taddy (Jul 12, 2020)

I experienced exactly the same with a hob ferret that I had neutered at six months old, he was bought as a nine week old kit along with a jill of the same age from a different strain.when bought they were both the same size and were fed the same diet of raw minced chicken. the jill has always been friendly, she has never attempted to bite, where as the hob always bit me whenever I put my hand out to him.
After taking advice from a lifelong ferret owner I changed the diet for them both to "Ferret Feast" and just kept their feed bowls topped up so they could eat whenever they wanted. The hob is now at least twice the size and weight of the jill and will gladly let me pick him up and play rough and tumble games with him, without any signs of aggression.
I do hope this helps,
Your's Taddy, July 12th,2020.
P.S, they are both now two years old.,also squirting him with water is not a good idea.


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## Taddy (Jul 12, 2020)

Pawtastic Petz said:


> Have you had any luck with this boy since making your post thread, I've only just logged on after months of not being on so haven't seen it until now. I'm surprised nobody has given you any advice already....
> Are you sure he's a full ferret and not a polecat hybrid? Their temperament can be similar to his which is why I'm asking. I've found that no chew spray directly onto hands helps with bitey ones as they don't like the taste. They don't like apple cider vinegar taste either so that makes a good alternative to no chew spray


What a coincidence, I also have two ferrets called Freya and Frigg although one is a hob.


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