xxx OK, I know I am not being impatient now!  I posted about two weeks ago,
and improvement is still slow to nil.  I brought a 5 year old female (Mandy)
into my house with a 2 1/2 year old (Mischief) and a 3 1/2 mos.  old (Mojo).
Mischief and Mojo are the sweetest ferrets and are not aggressive at all and
are quite used to being around and playing with other ferrets.  Mandy has
been an only ferret for most of her 5 years.  She is a doll to humans but is
terrified of ferrets.
 
    For the first 2 weeks, Mandy was kept in a separate cage (beside theirs)
but let out at play time with the other two.  That was accomplishing nothing
as far as getting them together as friends because she runs and hides when
she is out.  They can get near each other, but as soon as one of them comes
near Mandy's face, she squawks like a wounded bird and tries to bite their
faces.  So, I asked for advice on the FML...
 
    After reading some previous owners' experiences (thanks for the mail), I
decided to start putting them in the same cage.  For the first week (Mandy's
3rd week in my house), I only put them in the same cage when I was there and
when they slept at night.  They also went out together at play time.  Again,
no improvement.  So...
 
    Fourth week - they are in the same cage full-time now (have been all
this past week).  STILL NO IMPROVEMENT!  Mandy has to have her own blanket.
She hides under that and stays there.  My two sleep together at the other
end of the cage - as far away from her as they can get!  If they come near
her, she squeals and hisses and bites.  She has taken to attacking my 3 1/2
mos.  old because he will not defend himself (he is just a big, gentle teddy
bear).  She is a little more cautious around Mischief because Mischief will
not take it all the time - although she is not a fighter either.
 
    Mandy is SOOOOO gentle with people and it seems strange, especially with
the temperments of Mischief and Mojo, that she is not adjusting.  When I
take them to the park, I put them in one of those smaller travel cages and
Mandy attacks the whole way there and the whole way back!  When they are on
their leashes, she stays away from them.  What really upsets me is when she
goes after Mojo.  He outweighs her at 3 mos.  by 2+ lbs.  and he won't do
anything!  He lays there and whimpers.  It just breaks my heart.
 
    I am almost at the end of Mandy's fourth week with us.  Am I doing some-
thing wrong?  I feel it is no good to keep them separated because even
together, they aren't really CLOSE to each other.  Is Mandy going to get
over this or is she an impossible case?  She is a really cuddly ferret and
will sleep on my lap (or any human's lap) for hours, but I am getting really
upset at the way Mojo whimpers when she picks on him.  He has the most
wonderful personality and I don't want it ruined (mind you, he still plays
up a storm when I get together with my friends' ferrets).  UGH!!!!  Any
advice would be appreciated.
 
Gail Sampson
Halifax, Nova Scotia
CANADA
[Posted in FML issue 1290]