Hello,
We have two ferrets and are experiencing similar fighting behavior . . .
 
Most of the time our two get along pretty well, sleeping together and
teaming up to move some of the larger things we have around the house . . .
but from time to time, they enter what we are calling psycho-mode, where
they exhibit behavior similar to what you are describing, biting and
twisting, eek!  We aren't all that concerned right now, since they are both
doing it, and given a chance to stop (ie we seperate them) they both run
back towards the other and start wrestling again.  They were both at the
vet's last night and he didn't notice any scratches/bruises or anything, so
I can only assume that all is well . . .
 
You sound as though you have much more experience than I, but a couple
things that work for us:
 
1. If one is being more aggressive than the other, we pick that one up and
   walk around for a while, speaking calmly until he or she calms down a
   bit, and then see what happens.
2. Bribe them, distract them from fighting (so they don't think they are
   getting rewarded for fighting) and give them treats, which they take off
   to their own hidey holes and eat, then (we hope) they forget that they
   were fighting . . .
3. Give the more aggressive one a time out in the cage, this has worked the
   best, allthough we only use it as a last resort.  Our boy (who is twice
   as big as our little girl) has responded to this when he is particularly
   nasty, and tries to be very nice when we let him out after 15 minutes or
   so.
 
Mat, Dianne, Bandit and Rizzo
 
ps- a note about the picking up method, our girl, Bandit, has learned that
   if she is extremely nice to us when we pick her up (lots of kisses and
   smiles) she can 'trick' us into thinking she has calmed down right away :)
 
 ------------------------------------------------
 | Mat Buehler <[log in to unmask]>
 | SQA Engineer - Applix, Inc
[Posted in FML issue 1726]