Well yesterday i was bathing a normally placid ferret with a sore willy when out of the blue he turned and grabbed my hand on the fleshy part between my thumb on finger then he became only what i can describe as 'possessed'

He grabbed and let go grabbing again several times, he was also chomping down to get a bigger grip and shaking his head, i just couldnt get him off as i had to suppoort his body weight with my other hand, after what seemed like ages i finally decided to put him in the bath as there was water in i thought he might let go and thankfully he did, i held my hand over the sink and it just turned red with all the blood.

I still had to sort the ferret out though who was wet so i carefully picked him up and towled him off although i had to rinse him several times as he kept getting covered in blood, after a few mins he was back in the cage and my hand had already swelled considerably, as the day went on i found i couldnt move my thumb or finger and counted 13 puncture wounds, when i realised i couldnt hold anything at all between my thumb and finger i went to the chemist for advice who said straight away i needed a doctor, as it was nearly time for work i decided to see the occupational health nurse but then realised i couldnt drive Rolleyes

Finally got to hospital and was sent straight to A and E, they intiially thought he had gone through a tendon so i had an x ray (although i thought they were only for bones ) and it was definatley infected as half my hand had turned red, i had a dressing put on, my hand bandaged and a sling to keep my hand elevated. Was told i couldnt work for at least a week which isnt good as i only went back on mon after the flu, i was able to show my supervisor the wound before i went down to A and E so they can see im not making it up.

Today my whole hand has swollen and im feeling very drained and tired, not sure if thats the infection you dont realise how much you take your body for granted until you cant use a part of it Sad i even had to leave the door unlocked last night as i couldnt lock it, i cant grip anything with my left hand so feeding the cats tinned food is an ordeal and trying to pick up the ferret to give him is meds is agony, pretty much doing anything at all is hard work and painful.

I have to go back to A and E tomorrow to have it checked over and the dressing changed, however explaining to everyone why my arm is in a sling gets a lot of disbelief and isnt great ferret PR Laughing

Of the 15 years ive had ferrets and the hundreds and hundreds that have passed through or stayed here this is by far the worst bite and most savage attack ive ever ever had, whats your worst bite

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet

good grief - that sounds awful!!!

i love ferrets (although never handled one)! and i heard this about bites... they just hold on?? not sure how true that is...

do they have to be fed before being handled too??

i hope you feel better soon.... that all sounds really nasty
x

Yes ferrets will hold on if they want and the worst bit is if you try and pull youself out of the ferrets mouth, you'll have more of an ijury to deal with.

Silly question but how are you feeling today?
I'm sure that naughty little weasel is feeling guilty and wants to say sorry to his mummy

I havn't been bitten hard yet but i've had nips and they are sometimes painful enough so i can't imagine what pain you are going through

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They dont always bite and hang on although its better if they do and even better if they bite and let go, the problem is when they bite let go and grab again repeatedly, he was also chomping down to get a better grip and shaking his head.

To non ferret owners this isnt usually the case but i suppose he was upset at the time so cant really blame him.

My whole hand is swollen today although i have the use of my thumb and finger a bit more, ill se what A and E say tomorrow.

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet

never heard of bathing a ferret

We give ours baths every 3-4 months

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i dont actually agree with bathing ferrets, they dont generally like it 9i have the wounds to prove it) plus it makes them smell more as their coats produce more oils to compensate for being washed, also heard of a a ferret dying from hypertherpia after being bathed to much i was only putting his lower body in water to wash his sore willy.

Been back to a and e today, the swelling in my thumb has gone down a bit although i still cant hold anything in that hand plus the whole of my hand has now sowllen but have a bit more mobility in it today, got a week off work though

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet

Our boys love bath time

I'm glad your getting better, at least you have some time off to recover

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