Some asked about getting another fert for the one/s they have and them
getting along with each other.  I had an interesting experience to share.
 
First, I got Byte-me, an itty bitty marshall farms fert from a store.
Had her about 6 months and decided she needed a 'friend' so bought
Nibble-ed.  Byte-me was much larger having grown and fully asserted her
domination over Nibble-ed by straddling her and really curtailing her
moves for a few weeks.  But over time, they got along fine and shared all
like they were always together, yet Byte-me maintained the upper hand.
 
A year went by, and I answered a plea on FML from a couple in NC that had
to give up two males.  I knew the shelters down there were full beyond
capacity and feared for the welfare of the two ferts so I took them.
They were housed in separate cages first for sanitation and second where
they fought some with Nibble-ed and Byte-me.
 
Later, one of the males died of cancer.  On a visit to a VA Beach shelter,
I inherited a fert that had been out to at least 4 homes prior and back
to the shelter 4 times (Bud).  He is a great fert, just have to watch him
where he is not litter box trainable.  Bud and Kodo also fought.
 
I kept them all in separate cages, building one huge cage for Bud and Kodo
that was divided into 'condos' and another huge one for the two females
together.  But this became a problem having three separate 'out' times.
This had to be fixed.
 
Over time, I let the two males out together supervised.  They would fight,
and I would break up the squealing melee by yelling.  Over time, they began
to get along so they did not fight, Kodo keeping the upper hand.  I began
to supervise them in a common cage for a few hours and then longer periods.
They would still fight now and then, but less and less frequently.  In
time, they shared a common hammy.  Great!
 
In warm months, the ferts have the porch to live on safe from rain and wind
but plenty of air and sun.  In cold months, they are in here with me.  I
had the two cages right up against each other all this time so they could
sniff and get acquainted.  Last week, I let the two males out and one
female.  Not a good experience, but supervised I got the fighting down
to a small roar.  Eventually they would get along fairly well, so I let
Nibble-ed out with them, same process.
 
After two weeks of shared 'out' time, they were put in a single cage
together but some hammys and toys from the other cage were introduced.
They now are all together in one cage, sharing hammys, toys , and no
fighting.  Took me about 4 months to get through this, but has flowered
out fine.  Ahhhhhhh!
 
Gordon, Byte-me, Nibble-ed, Kodo and Bud
[Posted in FML issue 3378]