I just wanted to tell this story to offer some encouragement to those who
are trying to integrate new ferrets and feel like giving up.
 
I have four ferrets: Hobbes, Taz, Spice, and Myst.  Myst is the most
recent addition.  She was about 9 weeks old when I got her this past
January.  Spice was NOT amused.  Her mission, and she did choose to
accept it, was to whale the tar outta Myst at any opportunity.  Myst was
caged separately, although I did let everyone out to play at the same
time.  Inevitably Spice would find Myst and grab her and shake her, all
the while bristling her tail and poofing.  Myst would just scream and
break away and run and hide.  There was no serious blood drawn, just some
scratches, scrapes and scabs on the back of Myst's neck.  And yes, there
was occasional fear pooping.  Myst could usually get away though, and if
I thought she was really getting the worst of it, I would usually
separate them for a while.  Myst is the only ferret who has ever learned
to get in and out of the bathtub on her own, so she sometimes would hide
in there until Spice was gone and then she'd come out again.
 
As of a week ago, they are now all caged together, and everyone plays
together and sleeps together, and there is no more fighting.
 
This took 9 months.  Not a week, not two weeks, not a month.  NINE
months.  So do not give up so easily when you get a new ferret and
somebody starts beating someone else up.  If no serious blood is being
drawn (neck scabs don't really count here), and the combatants are not
vastly mis-matched in size, let them work it out.  Obviously I'm talking
about spayed/neutered ferrets here, not breeding ferrets.
 
One thing I did which probably helped was to separate Spice out and put
her in her own cage by herself.  Myst went in with Taz and Hobbes.  Those
two only wrestle for fun, and Myst learned how ferrets are supposed to
play.  Eventually I started seeing Myst sometimes turn and give chase to
Spice, and Spice, for her part, seemed to get bored with her "mission".
She became rather half-hearted in trying to beat up Myst, as if she was
only doing it because she thought it was her job, and eventually gave it
up altogether.  I'm anthropomorphizing, but you get the idea.  So don't
give up too quickly.
 
Cheers,
Karen
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No more my God, I boast no more / Of all the duties I have done / I
quit the hopes I held before / To trust the merits of Thy Son .....
The best obedience of my hands / Dares not appear before Thy throne /
But faith can answer Thy demands / By pleading what my Lord has done.
                                        -- Isaac Watts
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If you love ferrets, check out:
http://www.ferretwise.org
My personal site:
http://members.localnet.com/~ricochet/
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[Posted in FML issue 3940]