Hello FML'ers!
 
This is my first time posting, so I'll introduce myself to everyone.  My
name is Ryan Vickmark and am currently a senior at South Dakota State
University.  I have two ferrets, a 6 month old male sable named Angus, and a
1 year old light colored female sable named Lilly.  I also have a 5 year old
cat named Mischief.  I have had Angus now for about 3 months.  We have him
pretty well trained and he has been getting along with the cat real well and
everything.  Well, we decided that we should get him another ferret to play
with.  So when someone here in SD said they had a ferret that needed a good
home, I jumped at the chance.  So we got Lilly about a week ago.  Here's why
I am posting: right from the start Lilly did not like Angus at all.  I let
Lilly get used to the house and sniff around it for almost a day before I
introduced her to Angus.  When I did, she charged right at him and started
biting him real hard.  I didn 't let them fight it out for very long, so
there was no blood drawn or anything.  Well, I have put them together a
couple times a day for the last week with pretty much the same result every
time.  Usually it is Lilly attacking Angus, and Angus running away.  Today,
Angus decided to make the first move and attack Lilly before she had the
chance to get him.  I just want them to stop biting each other and get along
already!  I have tried several of the steps mentioned in the FAQ.  I put
them in seperate cages right next to each other so that they could see and
smell each other but not attack, but that didn't seem to help any.  I've
also tried switching bedding and giving them baths, but none if it has
worked yet.  I still haven't tried the bitter apple one yet, since it is not
readily available in my area (have to drive about 70 miles to get some, and
the way the weather has been here for the last week, I'd rather not).  Oh, I
forgot to mention, the new ferret Lilly gets along great with humans and the
cat (prolly because the cat is huge), no problems biting whatsoever, just
with the other ferret.  She even sleeps in my lap, something my other ferret
wouldn't think of doing.
 
Has anybody else had a similair problem when introducing a new ferret?  What
steps did you take to have them get along?  Approximately how long did it
take?  (I'm trying to be patient..) Is it a dominance thing where I should
let them fight it out?  Are there some ferrets that just won't ever get
along?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks.
 
--Ryan Vickmark
 
"Take a chance, while you still got the choice!"
--Rock'n'Roll Damnation, AC/DC
[Posted in FML issue 1760]