Orphaned animals which have been rescued from the wild
will have wild natural instincts, no matter what their age is.
Even when they play, it’s rough which involves lots of biting
and clawing. The same is true with exotic pets. They will have a
more wild side when compared to the domestic ones. It would be
unfair to generalize this principle for all, but it is true in
most of the cases. The biggest challenge faced by the new owner
will be limit the usage of teeth and claws by the pet. Teeth are
the more dangerous of the two, because wild and exotic pets bite
really hard, even while playing, until they aren’t given proper
training. Even if the owner tries to pat the pet, it will show
its affection by biting. The owner must not consider this act as
an aggressive one, but it should be amended in early stages
otherwise this habit will turn into a permanent one.
The owner must never consider declawing, defanging as the first
resort or even as the last resort. The pet undergoes a lot of
pain during and after the surgery. Many owners swear that their
pets had undergone total personality change after declawing.
They also turn violent as their means of natural defense is
lost. And no quantity and quality of training can undo this
negativity. Also, it certainly doesn’t mean that the animal will
not bite after its canines have been removed. Even after
defanging the animal, it can still bite and hurt with its
molars.
A very easy and recognized method is slightly tapping on the
nose of the pet when it bites really hard. But this won’t apply
to all and worst of all it can even encourage the animal to bite
even more. They take it as a challenge and make more rough play.
It will back off for a while and then sneak attack. But it does
work for some pet owners and above all there is no harm in
practicing this technique. It should only be practiced till the
positive outcome is achieved. If negative results begin to come,
the practice should be stopped immediately. Whenever the pet
bites, hold that body part still. This will bore the cat and it
will treat it like a toy to play with.
When the pet prepares to attack, another easier thing which can
be done is raising up the hands. The pet will bounce off and
will give up at some time, seeing the disinterest of the person.
But it would be a mistake to over react to the situation like
making noises, yelling or pushing the pet. The pet will assume
that the person is enjoying the play and participating in the
act and will increase its enthusiasm even more. Animals play
rough games and getting a rough response from the owner makes
them assume that they are participating in their rough act.
Other tactics like pinning down the pet or grabbing will just
aggravate the pet’s wild habits.
Biting can also be stopped by giving a toy to the animal which
they can chew upon instead of hurting the family members by
pouncing on and biting them. Most of them like toys which are
squishy, rubbery, soft and easily chewable. The toy can then be
tied to a rope and wiggled and the animal cannot only pounce on
it but also chew it. The toy can be carried along all the time
and when the pet prepares to attack any family member, the toy
can be wiggled at him and he will pounce on the toy instead. But
extra care to be taken in this regard is that some animals can
tear up the toy and eat it. Those pieces can block up their
intestines which can make them ill and sometimes might even lead
to death. The animal will sometimes vomit or excrete the foreign
objects, but sometimes it will require an expensive surgery.
Pets should be constantly supervised when they are playing with
toys.