My little Ferret Henry has been with my for about a month-ish now. He was 5 months old when I got him. At first, he was very scared of me, and would chomp quite hard on my fingers, toes, ankles, neck, etc, often drawing blood. Eventually, I got him to think of me as his friend, and after we figured out how to block his little room off, hes allowed out in his room at all hours of the day except bed time, and he loves it.

We've been getting a long great lately, but he has always been iffy about being picked up and sometimes doesn't even really like to be pet sometimes. This poses a problem every 2 weeks when I have to trim his nails. He has a weird thing where he HATES being on his back. I'll drop some ferrotone on his belly and he just flips over and tries to get at it from other directions. The first time I clipped his nails it took forever because I had to scruff him over and over. Today, I held him in my arms and he licked his belly until i got finished clipping about 7 nails. i dont know if i did something wrong and hurt him--i dont think so, but then he started freaking out. i tried to put more on his belly and he just wasn't having it.

So, I decided to just grab him from his back, flip him over in a way where he couldn't nip me, and clipped his nails. It worked wonders. I had to grip him harder than I'd like to cause he's squirmy, but it didn't seem to be hurting him at all, so I don't think this was the problem, but near the final nail, he started squirming a lot. I kept trimming and then eventually I saw he was getting wet...I noticed he peed himself. Then I put him down and saw he pooped a little, too. I know he didn't have to poop because he didn't go to his litter box afterwards, so I realized he must have done it out of fear.

I kept thinking today what kind of fear I'd have to be in to lose control of my bowels, and I couldn't even imagine it. I know he's not a human, he's an animal, and they can't rationalize, but I really can't explain how bad I feel. I'm sure he would have been fine had i let him go and continued it later when he calmed down. I just can't get over this, I can't believe I scared him so much. I feel so horrible. He was scared of me for about 30 minutes and then went back to normal and even was quite nice and cuddly, but I still can't get it out of my head. 

I don't know what I'm expecting as a response, but I'm just hoping someone has some input on how he felt and how to prevent it in the future. Thanks.

Hello and Welcome to the forum!
Sometimes when my babies squirm like that they do have to go potty. Even though he didn't go to the litter box might mean he didn't have to go anymore. It's possible he was stressed some and that's why he peed/pooped. Could you have cut his nail a little short? Even if it didn't bleed it could have hurt a little. It does happen. I've accidentally cut them to short before when they squirm. I always feel terrible but I love on them and tell them I'm sorry. 

 
Fuzzbutts Rule!

bandit99


Hello and Welcome to the forum!
Sometimes when my babies squirm like that they do have to go potty. Even though he didn't go to the litter box might mean he didn't have to go anymore. It's possible he was stressed some and that's why he peed/pooped. Could you have cut his nail a little short? Even if it didn't bleed it could have hurt a little. It does happen. I've accidentally cut them to short before when they squirm. I always feel terrible but I love on them and tell them I'm sorry. 

Hey, thanks a lot for the warm welcome. It is possible I cut them too short; I was working on the bottom ones which I find a lot harder since there's not as much to work with. I just felt so bad because I can tell he really loves me, since whenever I'm in his room he follows me around nonstop, and then he got really scared when I put him down. My friends all told me I'm overreacting, haha, but he's my first pet and I've never had an experience like that before.

Hi. Don't feel so bad.  Clipping is a task that has to be learned and most of us have had accidents.  Do you use oil on the belly to distract him?  Like ferretone or olive oil?  It's a great trick  if he likes it.  Just a couple drops is all it takes.  Lay him on his back in your lap and add a little oil.
Take your time.  If you squeeze slowly on the clipper and he jumps, you're probably too close.  
I've got close enough to draw blood a few times.  They get over it quickly.

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD

Don't beat yourself up about it. It's difficult to get the hang of. If he's over it you should be a little easier on yourself. 

For a while I had to have my husband scruff them so I could cut their nails. Now I seem to get them after a while (it's timely without his help). But mine ignore the ferretone lol! 

Do you know how to cut his nails to the right length? I'm sure we could help in that department to make sure they aren't cut too short in the future :)

Best luck, and it is nice to see someone so thoughtfully worrying about how they affected their pet. : )