New Ferret to our group

Hi all. Hope all is ready for Christmas, or close anyway. Its been a long
while since I've visited this group.

My husband and I just took in a 4 yr old female albino into our home that
already houses 2 3 yrs old critters (ferrets). One male albino, Leo, about
4 1/2 to 5 lbs, one female white w/silver & gray, Lexie, 2 - 2 1/2 lb. We
have have had our critters since they were about 6 - 8 wks old. We had 2
other critters, one 3 yrs old female and the other 2 yr old male when we got
the babies. It took about 3 wks or so for the older ones to accept the
babies in the family. We had to keep them separated and slowly keep putting
them together until we could trust them. The older ones would grab the
youngers ones at the back of the neck and fight them. There were times when
there was literally poop flying, but no blood drawn. We kept very close eye
on them. I thought it was just the male teaching the male who is boss and
the same w/the female.

Well, both our critters keep grabbing her, Girdy, that weighs maybe 1 - 1
1/2 lbs, at the back of the neck. I'm scared to death they will hurt her.
We've had her about 2 wks now, will be on Sat. the 15th. I thought we would
have problems with the female letting another female in, but not the male.
My husband gives them ferretone together in the mornings. He says that they
all do good together eating the ferretone but as soon as they wipe their
chins they go to attacking Girdy. We are keeping them separated, each has
their own room to run. We swap them daily. 2 in one room during the night
and then switch them in the day. They sleep in the same bed when switched.

My long story to the question is, Should I just let them fight it out and
get it over with or just keep switching them until they get used to each
other? We have read on the internet where it can take several days to
several weeks and even months. Is there a time when you say they just
aren't gonna be friends? Girdy's owner said she would take her back if
things don't work out. The reason we took her is because Girdy's playmate
was accidentally killed and she was lonely. She really perked up when they
brought her to the house. Leo and Lexie did good on the initial
introduction, no fighting until the next day or maybe later that night.
Just want to make sure we are doing the right thing.

Thanks for all your help. You guys are awesome!

Tam

I can honestly say that I have been through the same thing with the 3 I
have. Last Christmas came the male at 10 weeks old and a week later, my
first female came in at 8 weeks. They got along just fine. This year,
about 6 months later, I got another female about 8 weeks old and put her in
with the other two. They got along just fine. She was an instigator and
started most of the playing around or whatever they would do. Every once in
a while, I would catch either Dozer or Sissy taking poor Minnie by the skin
of her neck or her ear.... somewhere I thought they shouldn't be grabbing
her and literally shaking her or dragging her across the room. Now they
never fight, they are always playing and they do get very rough.. at least
I think they do and Minnie is probably rougher with the male than he
ususally is with her. I constantly find her gnawing on him when he is
trying to sleep and little wimpers come from him as he tries to ignore her.
She keeps trying to get him to play but he wants to sleep. When he starts
that grabbing on her and shaking or dragging her, I make him stop but hes
always hopping around like hes playing and like I said, she does the same to
him. I figure if they are hurting one another, they would stop doing it
back and forth. If it gets really agressive, where I think its to much and I
usually do.. then I pull them apart and tell them no. They actually learn
when I tell them that they arent supposed to do something. They are a very
smart animal and if teach them.... they do learn. I think if you watch and
see them getting to aggressive with her, just tell him no and seperate the
two. They will understand after a couple of times of doing that. Good Luck
and Happy Holidays!!

Sunney


"Tammy" <tammhoward DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:J8d8j.3897$Vq.2918@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com...
> Hi all. Hope all is ready for Christmas, or close anyway. Its been a
> long while since I've visited this group.
>
> My husband and I just took in a 4 yr old female albino into our home that
> already houses 2 3 yrs old critters (ferrets). One male albino, Leo,
> about 4 1/2 to 5 lbs, one female white w/silver & gray, Lexie, 2 - 2 1/2
> lb. We have have had our critters since they were about 6 - 8 wks old.
> We had 2 other critters, one 3 yrs old female and the other 2 yr old male
> when we got the babies. It took about 3 wks or so for the older ones to
> accept the babies in the family. We had to keep them separated and slowly
> keep putting them together until we could trust them. The older ones
> would grab the youngers ones at the back of the neck and fight them.
> There were times when there was literally poop flying, but no blood drawn.
> We kept very close eye on them. I thought it was just the male teaching
> the male who is boss and the same w/the female.
>
> Well, both our critters keep grabbing her, Girdy, that weighs maybe 1 - 1
> 1/2 lbs, at the back of the neck. I'm scared to death they will hurt her.
> We've had her about 2 wks now, will be on Sat. the 15th. I thought we
> would have problems with the female letting another female in, but not the
> male. My husband gives them ferretone together in the mornings. He says
> that they all do good together eating the ferretone but as soon as they
> wipe their chins they go to attacking Girdy. We are keeping them
> separated, each has their own room to run. We swap them daily. 2 in one
> room during the night and then switch them in the day. They sleep in the
> same bed when switched.
>
> My long story to the question is, Should I just let them fight it out and
> get it over with or just keep switching them until they get used to each
> other? We have read on the internet where it can take several days to
> several weeks and even months. Is there a time when you say they just
> aren't gonna be friends? Girdy's owner said she would take her back if
> things don't work out. The reason we took her is because Girdy's playmate
> was accidentally killed and she was lonely. She really perked up when
> they brought her to the house. Leo and Lexie did good on the initial
> introduction, no fighting until the next day or maybe later that night.
> Just want to make sure we are doing the right thing.
>
> Thanks for all your help. You guys are awesome!
>
> Tam
>