Here is a really unusual question.  Spencer, my 1 year old altered male,
recently has started to hold down 3 year old altered male Mac while they're
in the cage and start sucking Mac's right ear.  I've caught him doing this
3 different times in the last month.  The first time I caught him, Mac's
ear was bleeding slightly.  Since then, there's been no bleeding, just
redness that goes away after a few minutes.
 
They have always wrestled quite a bit during playtime (about 2-3 hours a
day) but I have never caught Spencer trying to suck Mac's ears outside of
the cage.  He never has sucked the ears of our altered female as far as
we know, and all three are in the same cage.  Spencer shows no adrenal
symptoms that I can see or any other odd behavior.  Mac's ears look normal
too.  Could it be cage boredom?  A sign of stress?  Adrenal symptom?
 
I'm keeping a close eye on Spencer and putting bitter apple paste on Mac's
ears (boy, does he love THAT), but I would really like to know if ANYONE
else has experienced this with their ferrets.
 
Thanks!
Jenn
[Posted in FML issue 3012]