I wanted to thank everyone that made suggestions about Tigger and his
weight problem.  He is currently eating only ferret food and is much more
active than he was two weeks ago when he moved in with us.  He is now
able to stand on his back legs; he still must hold on to something, but
he can stand and walk.  He is also able to climb the tubes in the cage
both up and down with much less rest in between levels.  I am so very
pleased with his progress in just two weeks.
 
Now, I have another question that I thought someone on here could help
with.  We are still having a little adjustment difficulties.  I have been
reading the posts on integrating a new ferret and I wanted to tell you
what I have done and what is still happening and ask for suggestions.
Tori is another male ferret and he is about the same age as Tigger, I
think.  (Tori will be two the end of this month.) Tori, as a kit, was
"initiated" into the ferret room by a dominant female that died about 1
year ago.  Since that time, neither ferret took on the role of the alpha
ferret until Tigger came along; Tori has decided to now take on that
role.
 
Tori has consistently gone after the back of Tigger's neck.  At first he
was not rough enough to hurt him, but he was scaring Tigger.  A few days
ago I noticed little scabs on Tigger's neck; which tells me that Tori
broke the skin at some point.  Tigger is a very passive ferret with a
very sweet, cuddly soul.  I have watched him shake and shiver when Tori
comes near a few times and I have watched him eat really, really fast; I
think because Tori has run him off from all the food bowls before when I
was not around.  Tigger now squeals almost anytime Tori gets close to
him; but that does not stop Tori.
 
Sometimes, Tori wants to play.  At other times, he wants to protect and
guard everything in the ferret room.  I got a new toy for all three and a
new hammock so they would all have one but Tori runs him out of/off from
everything.  Tigger will get his feelings hurt and go hide somewhere.
Yesterday, I got some Bitter Apple and put on the back of Tigger's neck.
That helped some, but then I found Tori sniffing to find another area of
Tigger's body that did not have Bitter Apple on it.  I have sternly told
Tori "no" and put him in time out a few times to try to teach him to not
be so aggressive with Tigger.  At this point, I believe Tori knows he is
not supposed to do this, but he continues this behavior; especially if I
am not in the room with them.  The other ferret, a 5 year old female, is
quite nurturing of Tigger; but she is bonded and most loyal to Tori.
 
I have not tried separating them full time because it would mean putting
someone in a cage full time and none of my ferrets have ever been caged
other than for short periods of time in the main part of the house.
Neither Tori or Tigger like being in a cage longer than 30 minutes to
an hour at a time.
 
My questions are these: Will Tori soon quit torturing Tigger?  Am I
premature in expecting that he quit within the first two weeks?  Since
Tigger is such a sensitive ferret, will Tori's behaviors have an
emotional consequence for Tigger?  And, if so, what can I do other than
the cuddling and comforting that I offer Tigger now?  And finally, is
there something else I can do that perhaps I have not thought of to help?
 
Thanks!
Kathy
[Posted in FML issue 4472]