Is it normal? Absolutely. I see this with our ferrets who are trying to
exert dominance over another ferret. Sex doesn't matter, size doesn't
matter and age doesn't seem to be a factor either. Two things come
to mind... who came first and the character of the ferret. By that I
mean the submissive ferret is usually the shyer one, the much less
aggressive one, the lover and not the fighter type of ferret. Sometimes
this type of behaviour elicits screams from the submissive one and that
usually brings us running. We normally don't interfere because the
sooner they work it out, the better for both of them. The only time we
do interfere is if the sub ferret is older, sick or really not in the
kind of shape a ferret should be to get hauled off and dragged across
the room. The dragging doesn't hurt... it's the twisting that causes
the dominant ferret to bite down harder and cause those lovely scabs
we see and find on ferrets who live in a group. But they heal and the
squealing stops sooner than you think. And remember that their necks
are incredibly strong due to their physiology. They originally were
hunters and needed to have strong necks to take down prey in burrows.

I still find homes where squeals happen after years of living together
and that usually happens because the human caregivers intervene too
much. I think stretching it out is far more stressful on them than
letting them get it over with.

There is a side point I must make to this though... we have run into
ferrets that have a low immune system and have developed sepsis from
just one bite. The cause is usually from poor dental hygiene (so a good
reason to keep on top of cleaning your ferrets teeth regularly) but can
also be caused by poor nutrition, not enough run time to build strong
bones and muscles which in turn help build a good basis for immunity.
Sepsis is not something I would want anyone's ferret to go through...
it is long in turning around, painful for the ferret and if you don't
have a decent bank account, could cost you an arm and a leg in the long
run. Be proactive and prevent this possibility from even happening...
give a balanced and varied diet, and let those weasels run and run and
run. Caging for long periods does not aid the immune system at all.

One last note on dragging... we have even seen our ferrets dragging the
dead. I know it is morbid to think about but I also don't know why it
happens. Maybe the ferret dragging the dead one wants to "save" it by
stashing. Maybe they had a good bond. In the one case I know of, the
ferret was dragged out of her nest box (that's where we last saw her go
into) where she had passed in her sleep and we didn't know. One dragged
her out and left her out in the open in a very public spot as if the
ferret who did it knew we would find her there. It was if the ferret
who did it was saying, hey guys, I found her for you... it time to say
good bye. At that time her body was limp as if she had died within the
hour. She was 10 years old. Ferrets are really quite fascinating
creatures. It's the main reason we love them so.

betty and her blurs o'fur
For the love of ferrets
Caring for the unloved, unwanted, mistreated, misunderstood and
medically challenged for nearly 30 years

[Posted in FML 7864]