Ferrets have somewhat of a reputation for being bad biters - this being one of their most annoying and frustrating habits faced by owners. While biting is also a defense mechanism for ferrets, biting is also a natural part of ferret behavior while playing, similar to other pets when young, for example puppies.

Even so, biting ferrets do not make good pets ? the good news is you can train them to stop this behavior. For training to be effective however, it is best to start as early as possible since once biting becomes habit ? it is harder to stop.

As the owner it is your responsibility to act early as most ferrets will not simply ?grow out of it?.

The best solutions are listed below:

1 ? Withdraw attention when nipping occurs, if biting continues placing your ferret back in its cage for a short period of time may give it some time to calm down. It is usually excited ferrets that are more likely to nip ? as ferrets love to play - a break will help reinforce that biting is bad.

2 ? As with withdrawal of attention when behavior is bad, positive reinforcement or giving your ferret more attention when behavior is good will help teach your ferret that nice play without biting is good.

3 ? While for most ferrets the above points will be enough, some owners feel that punishment for bad behavior may be required. Some owners advocate scuffing the ferret. This involves grabbing the loose skin on the back of the ferret's neck and gently shaking or pulling (as a mother ferret may do in nature).

The idea is that done during bad behavior, this will teach the ferret through negative reinforcement that that bad behavior leads to punishment.

Be warned however that this method is least preferred and can backfire. This is especially true if you are dealing with a ferret which has previously been neglected or abused. Worse still it may cause your ferret to become further aggressive or afraid of you ? either case not making for a good pet.