Here's an update on Salt & the new baby.
 
Its been a week since we brought Little Man (he was originally named
"Bone", but we've been calling him our Little Man and it's kind of
sticking) home.  We've been spraying the baby with biter apple when he's
out (thanks, tle).  At night, we keep him in the cage (closed & locked)
with all the other ferrets, except Salt.  She sleeps in the drawer next
to the cage.  That way he still can bond with the others right away.
During the day while we're at work, he stays locked in the cage by
himself.  When we're home, everyone has free run of the house.  I spray
him with the biter apple frequently (every half hour or so) to keep the
smell there.  The only drawback with that is that NOBODY wants to touch
him.  He tries to play with the others and as soon as they play back and
get a taste, they look at him like "Take a bath, boy!".  They don't
avoid him, they just don't play as hard.  Salt follows him EVERYWHERE
and usually tries to bite him at least once until she gets a taste of
him...then she seems puzzled and doesn't try to bite anymore, but
follows him relentlessly.  Sniffs him a lot.  He doesn't know how much
he's disliked, so while she's horning in on him, every once in a while,
he turns to bite her to initiate play.  She just hisses because she
knows about the taste if she bites.
 
I figure I've got to let them interact because I'm not keeping them
seperated forever.  If they choose to never like each other, that's
there problem, but they WILL learn to tolerate each other's presence.
That's mommy's rule.  ;-)
 
Things have been going ok, not great, but ok.  Last night we had a slight
incident though.  We've got dryer hose tubes as well as cardboard boxes
(long skinny ones that golf clubs came in) that we hook up to each other
and all the ferrets love it.  Including the baby.  So he goes in and Salt
follows him naturally.  He probably tries to play, and she freaks out
because she's cornered and usually attacks him.  That's what happened last
night.  By the time I ran in and tore the boxes apart, she had him pretty
good by the ear and he was wailing.  I picked him up and he huddled close
and my husband took care of Salt.  I don't know what's worse, the baby's
trama or my trama when my husband gets involved.  Salt is his little girl,
but he doesn't tolerate the way she beats the new ones up, especially
because of his size.  I've convinced him to stop smacking her when she does
that, but she got the baby pretty good yesterday, so he held her under the
faucet quickly because she's not fond of water.  I wasn't real thrilled
about that, but it was nicer than smacking her, and it did bring her back
to reality qucker than usual though.  He just dosn't understand that this
is stressful on her too.
 
Patience.
Argh.
 
I can honestly say that our situation has improved SOME since we brought
him home.  That first couple of days, we couldn't let them interact PERIOD.
Her tail would bottle-brush with just his scent in the air.  Even if it was
off of the other ferrets.  Then, gradually, it improved.  Now they can
interact without supervision (except in the tubes!).  Not that they get
along, but they're learning to tolerate each other's presence.  The fact
that they both can be in the same room shows SOME improvement.  I can't
wait until everyone can sleep in one hammock.  It will make mommy's life
MUCH easier!!
 
Mish
[Posted in FML issue 1307]