Hi all-
I was a subscriber of the FML around 6 years ago when we first got out
lovies Charlotte and Kitka.  Sad to say Kitka had adrenal disease and after
a good fight and lots of worthwhile interventions, she passed away last
April.  Charlotte has been awfully lonely, so last Wednesday we got a 3
month old beautiful angel of a girl to be a pal to our 6+ year old Char.
Charlotte had always been so accepting of others and playful with new
ferrets, we assumed it would be an easy transition.  So far, it has been
better each day... but I feel so bad!  Charlotte is stressed out!!  We have
kept them separated unless supervised, and let them run around together
several times a day for an hour or more.  It has only been a few days,
but I'm wondering what else we can try.  Any suggestions would be MUCH
appreciated.
 
On first meeting, Charlotte grabbed new girl by the scruff and shook her so
hard she left marks.  New little girl now scared of ol' codger Char.  Other
meetings on day one with more dominance behavior, but not as rough- no more
marks.  New girl runs from Char, but still comes up to her and tries to
sniff, etc.  We are scruffing Char with each aggressive demonstration
and saying "no" but Char continues to lunge at new kid, even when we are
holding them.  Today we let the newbie out of the small room she has been
enclosed in (with most of the toys!) and into what has been Charlotte's
territory.  Only one real aggressive event, and we continued as above
with Char.  Today we also made a big point of giving Char some positive
reinforcement when she didn't attack the new kiddo.  The thing is, I think
the only reason Char didn't attack and scruff as much was she simply *can't
keep up* with the speed of a kit like our nameless new ferret.
 
One thing- I was really hoping that Char would assert herself as the
dominant ferret- so I'm glad she is doing so.  She is a joy and deserves
to have the run of the roost- after all, she got here first.  I'm glad
she's numero uno, but she was always so tolerant of Kitka- amazingly so.
She let Kitka beat up on her and was very good at making their play equal,
even though Char was always stronger, bigger, faster, etc.  She is so very
intolerant of this new girl!  Also- in Char's other experiences with new
ferrets, she has always been friendly and eager to play!  Never a problem.
However, during Kitka's last month or so she became less interactive with
Char, and at the end was pretty uncomfortable and would even snap at
Charlotte.  We are thinking this has caused her to change her behavior
toward other ferrets- does this make sense?
 
I know it's getting better each day, but I'm yearning for the sounds of two
ferrets having fun together, and wishing there was something more we could
be doing to facilitate this transition period.  If anyone out there has
suggestions, they would be so very appreciated.
 
Thanks,
Paula
[Posted in FML issue 3085]