Hi, Everybody!
    My first three furries, Pogo, Bungee, and Tinkerbelle all seem to be the
best of friends.  They eat, wrestle, and sleep together, and that's OK.
 
    But then, I got Toodles.  I figured introducing the fourth ferret would
be just like introducing Bungee to Pogo, and Tinkerbelle to the first two.
I supervised their time together until they got their "pecking order" straight
and started to get along.  Then I'd put them together "full time".
 
    However, they just don't seem to accept Toodles at all.  I've let them
play together (supervised) many, many times, and the older ferrets keep
beating her up.  This isn't just "I'm gonna drag you behind the TV to show
you who's boss...", this is "I'm gonna jump on your back, grab your neck,
and shake 'till your head falls off!"  This seems much more violent than
the usual ferret introduction.  Toodles has bite wounds on the back of her
neck where the skin has been broken.  I always break up the fight when it
gets too rough, and Toodles is getting better at defending herself, but
it has been about two months since I started introdicing her to the others.
This usually just takes a couple of weeks.
 
    If Toodles is AFRAID af the other ferrets, would that affect the way
they behave towards her?  She was 12 weeks old when I got her, so she had a
long stay in the pet store before I got her.  Could that be a factor?
 
    Thanx in advance for any help anyone can offer...
Eric & Pogo, Bungee, Tinkerbelle & Toodles, too.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0406]