Hi.
 
My first ferret, Oz, is doing something strange lately.  He's been biting
the back of the neck of his cage-mate, Merlin.  Oz is a neutered/descented
male and Merlin is a spayed/descented female.  There has never been a
problem with this is the past.  Oz doesn't drink a lot of water and isn't
overly itchy.  Nor is he losing any hair anywhere.  So, the symptoms of
adrenal seem to be ruled out.  He doesn't act spacey and his last vet visit
(Dec 98) gave him a exceptionally clean bill of health.
 
Oz has been doing this neck biting whenever he and Merlin are in the cage
together for the last 2 weeks.  He bites her hard enough that she cries
out.  I've tried putting lemon juice on Merlin's neck and am going to try
bitter apple (was going to try sooner but found out husband lent it out
without letting me know :) ).  Every time Oz bites Merlin on the neck til
she cries, he goes in the "bad cage" with a stern scolding all the way
there.  Needless to say, Oz has been spending a lot of time in the "bad
cage".
 
Oz and Merlin still play well together outside of the cage.
 
Has anyone seen this before? If anyone has any ideas about why or how to
stop this behaviour, I'd really appreciate it.
 
Nicole and Adam
 
Oz: I was a vampire in my past life.
Merlin: Oz, you're a real pain in the neck!!
Ouzo: Unh. You guys woke me up again.
Summer: Oz, you want someone to bite, I DARE you to try and bite me!!
Xena: Sorry Mer, better you than me.
[Posted in FML issue 2546]