TO the Annomumous poster, I too have the same problem you are having. Don't know if I will offer any useful help, but I'll try. One of my new boys that is 4 has a rep for being a bully. The first couple days things were fine, but then one day he decided to grab our smallest girl and shake her about. She pooped and screamed and I knew we had a problem. By accident they encountered each other again. The same result. Then when Merlin crossed our Youngest male Fizban he tried to dominate him and that did not work. Fizban was our first and he is young and fit so he said" I DON'T think so!". Thinking back to all the recommendations on ferret forums and magazines I looked at how they might interact. So 1st. I put the new guys in a cage in the same room where the house ferrets live. They got separate play times where they can encounter one anothers cages and sniff noses through the bars. They have no choice really but to know and smell the new guys. Then when the new Boys get play time in the rest of the house I leave the cage open for the others to explore. They go in and sleep in the hammies, thus exchanges scents. I have done this for many weeks. Now the big step. In a controlled area where I am right there, I have put Merlin with Fizban together, knowing if things get bad Fizban stands a good chance of defending himself. I let them sniff each other. If one begins to posture I hold them nicely like a harness might around the shoulders and body. I back them off so they can still sniff but not jump. I praise them for being good when it's just sniffing and nice things. I use the praise by name. When they posture I tell them no and scruff if necessary. I started with only a couple minutes and I am working up to more time. Last night Merlin did not Posture! Lily sniffed him with great interest, not fear! And today Lily touched noses and exchnged a peaceful sniff with Merlin through the cage. I am praying these are the first signs that they will work out those differences. I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted! Oh and really good behavior also gets goodies when I'm working with them. Now the next step is try these controlled times between Lily and Merlin. Dooks, Kris ' Ladyhawk ' [Posted in FML issue 5024]