Ann wrote:
>This is the only dominence behavior I've observed in ferrets.  It's
>usually biting, though Basil also likes to do a side-swipe body slam
>at the same time.
 
Long ago, we had one from one of Wendy Winstead's lines, Fritter.  She
did the weirdest thing.  Remember that we did not bop them.  She did,
though.  She would sit down in front the ferret she considered to be
misbehaving while holding the offenders eyes with a stare, and then she
wold fold her fingers in, making a sort of fist and give them a jab in
the nose.  (Also individual on her part: Fritter also liked to defecate
into bottle caps, and was very tidy about it.  She had no scent at all
so we used to supply her with safe perfumes which made her feel more
secure and got milder behavior from her.)
 
Meltdown also had a signature dominance move.  She would charge the
offender from the side, lower her head so that her head went under the
ferret's belly, then she would raise her head in a snap, causing the
misbehaving ferret to roll a few times over.
 
One of ours had a nasty technique for a while: biting other ferret's
anuses.  Nasty, nasty...
 
What individual dominance behaviors have others seen?
 
As to human behaviors that have worked for us for dominance and trust:
we have had times out work excellently.  They are not done alone, though,
and they need to be prompt and consistent.  The ferret sees that the
other ferrets who behave get spoiled during the time out, and then the
very next time that ferret does anything good we praise the ferret to
the skies and then also give a food reward.
 
BTW, our very intellectually impaired one, Ruffle, who took so long to
learn to not bite (other post sent today) but finally learned from short
times out began to give herself times out when she would feel too excited
or nervous.  She would walk away, turn her back on everyone and just lie
down till she was calmed down.  It worked marvelously well.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my
private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love
them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5349]