To Bill Waters and anyone else who has tried to introduce new ferrets - There is a big difference in mental, emotional and physical ability between a 6 week-old ferret and a 6 month-old ferret. The 6 week-old is still a very dependent infant. At this age his life experience is limited to knowing how to play with other 6 week-old ferrets and his mother, who was never that rough on him. He needs to be given time to grow up and learn the ways of the world, so to speak. Gradual introductions are always best in a situation like this. The older ferret is just going to be too rough on the little guy - not because he wants to hurt him - but because he's playing on a different level both physically and mentally. It would be like expecting a 6 month-old baby to be able to play and interact in the same capacity as a 6 year-old child. They're simply not compatible based on their individual physical abilities and emotional needs. Anybody who has ever had the opportunity to observe young animals growing up can attest to the fact that there are different stages in their development. In my 25 years of working with animals, the bulk of my experience has been with dogs, but the stages that puppies go through are very similar to that which baby ferrets go through. From birth to ~3 weeks of age, baby ferrets have one goal - that is to eat and stay warm. At 3-4 weeks of age they start to discover, through sounds and scents, that there is more to life than the nestbox and will often follow mom to the litter box. At 4-5 weeks their eyes open and they get a little bolder in exploring their surroundings, but not so bold as to take any unnecessary risks - the nestbox is always close by. At 5-6 weeks they are eating well on their own and no longer really need mom for nourishment, but still need her for emotional security. At 6-8 weeks is when humans usually take over where mom left off. The baby ferrets at this age are getting braver about exploring their environment, but still tend to over-react when something startles them. It is up to us to guide them through this often frightening time in their lives. From now until ~12 weeks of age, a lot of the experiences they have (good, bad, or otherwise) will, to a certain degree, shape their personalities for life. I've had good luck with teaching young ferrets to be gentle by giving any new baby I've acquired a stuffed animal to cuddle and wrestle with. He/she learns to play without getting too rough - stuffed animals just aren't very aggressive - and he's not being bullied by an older ferret that he just can't keep up with. At 12-16 weeks most young ferrets have grown up a lot and can start to play on equal terms with an older ferret. They've attained most of their size by then and no longer have the infant emotions of a much younger ferret. Two of our adoptees went through similar situations as your two ferrets. Mandy (I've written about her in a previous post), came to us totally scared out of her wits by everything. She was very young when her original owner bought her and then just simply tossed her in a cage with 2 much older ferrets. She just couldn't cope, at the tender age of 6 weeks, with an 8 month-old and a 6 month-old. She was well on her way to becoming a fear-biter, having quickly learned that she couldn't trust anything larger than her, by the time we got her. A year later, she is doing very well and is more than ready to be adopted. A recent newcomer to us is Squeeky. She was bought at the age of 6 weeks also, and was immediately introduced to a 1 1/2 year-old female who had been an "only child". Now, we all know how opinionated the girls can be, and this was no exception. But, in Squeeky's case she became an aggressive biter. Squeeky doesn't wait to be dominated or bullied or even told "No" (by humans or other ferrets), she simply bites first and asks questions later. I have to give credit to her original owner - she was willing to try to make some changes with Squeeky, but her husband finally put his foot down and insisted that she give Squeeky away. Squeeky is going to be much harder to re-train because she is so much older now than Mandy was when we got her and her biting behaviour has become more firmly ingrained. The point of all this? Let's not force our babies to grow up any faster than they are able to. Given time and separate living quarters (at least in the early stages of introduction), most ferrets will be able to get along with each other without anybody having a damaged psyche to show for it. But keep in mind that not all ferrets are created equal - most will get along with others, but some will simply refuse to get along and should be kept apart to avoid stress and stress-related illness. I'm not an expert on animal behavior and never claimed to be, but if I can help anyone with a ferret-related problem, please don't hesitate to call. I believe in exploring all options when dealing with the problems we often encounter with these wonderful little guys and maybe together we can come up with a solution. Jan M. Lovell - Secretary Georgia Domestic Ferret Association - Founded in 1989 Dedicated to a Better Life for Domestic Ferrets Through Knowledge and Understanding 770-442-5917 [Posted in FML issue 1560]