Hello,

A friend of mine has to give up his four-month old baby, male ferret
due to his landlord not wanting him in the building. Apparently he
allows cats, but ferrets are out of the question - but I digress.

He would like to give me his ferret and I brought my two, middle-aged
ferrets over for a play date to see how they would interact. My female
was going right after the baby ferret and chewing at his ears. He was
not used to this and would scream loudly and not fight/play back. He
just ran over to his owner for his dear life and whimpered while
pressing against him. He is very young and is a cuddler, whereas my
two are a bit more playful, independent and energetic. I felt awful.
She is obviously showing off some kind of dominance.

My male ferret went over to the baby ferret and sniffed him, but
otherwise he could've cared less about him. He mostly ran for his life
and hid in his crate when the baby ferret was screaming.

My question is and if I decide to take him, what is the best way to
ease them into getting to know each other? Or are the age differences
just too great, and this will never work out? Or are their
personalities too different?

He does not want to give him to a shelter and wants me to take him. I
would like to, but I am not sure this is going to work out.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Tracy

[Posted in FML 5931]