It's been a while since I've posted but I just had to share my good
news. Some background first

About this time last year I got a new 9wo little girl whom I named
Ali. I already had two 3yo boys whom I had raised from 8wo, George
and Rusty. They are loving gentle boys and I thought there would be
no trouble introducing a new ferret into our family. Boy was I WRONG!
The boys really resented the introduction of this interloper into
their territory. They didn't just beat her up, they tried to kill her.
Introductions were always supervised and always very short because as
soon as we put Ali down, the boys would start to rip her to pieces.
There was blood and fur everywhere. Then afterwards the boys would
sulk, lay flat on the floor and refuse to look at me. They even
patrolled the lounge to check if Ali was around. 

We tried EVERYTHING. We got advice from our local ferret club and the
people on the FML. Nothing worked. Finally we gave up and decided to
keep Ali away from the boys permanently and got her a companion ferret
named Crystal. From then on we needed two of everything. Two travel
cages, two lots of food, two lots of playtime, two lots of walks etc
etc.

Why do I tell this story? Well my boy George has insulinoma and may not
be with us for much longer. We decided to try integrating the ferrets
one more time otherwise Rusty would be all alone when George passes.
We've been cage swapping to get everyone used to each others scent for
the last 12 months and thought it worth a try. It went so much better
than we expected. I'd love to tell you they all took one look at each
other and became fast friends, but we all know life doesn't work that
way. What did happen was a lot of screaming and poofing (boy was there
poofing! We had to open ALL the doors and windows and put the fan on
high just to breath) and one or two 'little accidents' but there was NO
BLOOD or torn fur. Now I'll spare you the details but we have put all
four ferrets in a playpen together four times now and it gets a little
better each time. None of them are particularly happy about the
situation, but I feel confident that in time they will accept each
other. No one is trying to kill anyone else; they are just sorting out
the pack order. This may take a while, as Ali is very reluctant to hand
her crown over to Rusty. Eventually we hope we can have them all out
together in the lounge of an evening with us. This will mean more
attention and playtime for everyone. The downside? I just know that
once they are all getting along George will teach the girls all his
naughty tricks. Oh well, it will be worth it.

Sorry for the long post and thank you to all those people who emailed
me with advice 12 months ago. It didn't happen overnight, but it did
happen!

We wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas

Erin and the fuzzy four

George - "I reckon I can get into that"
Rusty - "Don't touch me. Hey why did you stop touching me?"
Ali - "I'm blond and I'm beautiful. Give me everything I want."
Crystal - "Do you have anything to eat?"

[Posted in FML 5454]