Hi
I have a 8month old female, who is very gentle and cuddly.  Anyway on the
weekend we were given her mother and litter sister (both are also very
gentle and well handled), my baby hasnt seen them in 4months.  My problem
is that i dont know how to introduce them together yet (I know that this
is a basic question, but i've only ever owned a single ferret before).
 
My little one lives inside, the 2 new ones are in the outside cage.  So far
Ive put there outside cages next to each other so they can sniff through
the wire during the day.
 
Also put my ferret and her sister together in the kitchen for a run and
her sister seemed to attack/wrestle her a lot.  The sister grabed her by
the neck and dragged and wrestled, rolling over a lot.  There wasnt any
squeeling or screaming going on so Ive taken this as them trying to
establish domonence.  Am I right?  It seems to be very rough play, and I
dont know wether Im being a overprotective ferret mum.  Im just worried
that once my little one gets used to her sister she will have to go
through all this again with her mother.
 
Someone suggested that I just put them all in the house together at the
same time and as long as they dont draw blood, let them sort it out
themselves.  Is this the right way to go, as it sure is hard to exercise
the ferrets at different times.  I want them to get along, but I dont want
my little girl to be beaten up by the newcomers in her own home.  It seems
to be very distressing for me as well.
 
Am I being a pathetic overprotective ferret mum? or is all this neck
scruffing and dragging a normal part of ferret behaviour.
Thanks
Christine
[Posted in FML issue 3517]