Hi again everyone, Introducing new ferrets to each other is always fun. I aquired each of my three six months apart from each other, and each went through a "breaking in" period. My first one, Mo the big male, didn't have other ferrets to play with and was horribly lonely (he used to roll around on the floor with a little stuffed tiger, and curl up around it to sleep). So we got Winnie, a little female. We had no idea what was going to happen when we put them together - I held Mo's tail and my SO held Winnie's, and we let them move toward each other. Mo was thrilled, he immediately grabbed Winnie by the back of the neck, and dragged her to his pile of favorite toys. Of course, she wasn't too thrilled by this. Anyway, we let them go for a while (their play was remarkably non-violent, mostly just jumping on each other), and then put Mo in his cage and Winnie into a box beside the cage. Up until that point, I had never heard a ferret cry, but when we seperated them, both ferrets started up, crying and scratching and carrying on. So we put them together, and they were asleep in no time flat. They've never had any problems with each other. Mo spent a lot of his first years sick, and when he was feeling badly, he wouldn't play with Winnie. Winnie would take it out on the furniture. Anyway, when we saw little Lulu in the squalid little hole she was lanquishing in, we decided to kill two birds with one stone - get the poor little fuzzball out of there and get Winnie a playmate. This time, we let Mo and Winnie at her immediately, and just sat back and watched. Lulu bit Mo's back leg once too often in that first meeting, and he responded by scruffing her and sitting on her until she cried so piteously that I pulled him off of her. It took about a week, but the ferrets eventually figured out the rules of encounter. We have had ferret visitor over the years, and I have never encountered any that couldn't get along with my three. I think it's because Mo is so much larger than every other ferret that has come through - the others learn to behave quickly. Or maybe I have just been lucky. Considering how violent ferret play is, I shudder to think what ferrets who genuinely didn't like each other would do. As long as they aren't hurting each other, I wouldn't be too concerned about the fact that they carry on. Later! Gwen, Mo, Winnie, and Lulu Mo: "ZZZzzzz..." Winnie: "Let's play!" Mo: "ZZZZzzzz..." Winnie: "WHINE! LET"S PLAY" licklicklicklicklicklicklicklick Mo: "ZZZzzzz...." Winnie: ***CHOMP*** Mo: "ZZZZzzzzz...." Winnie: "ZZZzzzz...." [Posted in FML issue 1497]