Tracy: Easel's not nippy, she's a kit. :) She's actually the most people-oriented kit i've met in a long time, and she's wonderfully bright and funny. We love her. The introduction of Easel to the rest of the family is kinda rocky, however, and i was wondering if some of the breeders and long-time owners out there have advice. Easel is, well, insecure. She's got three legs, and it seems she's got some serious lack of faith in her ability to wrestle and sport with the other ferrets. She's very skittish, and will flee at the least approach of another ferret - whether they be dancing, dooking, or just in general behaving like a happy ferret. Unfortunately, this results in the approaching ferret going, 'Ooh! Game!' and chasing Easel, who gets more and more freaked. This ends up with either Easel hiding under the cage or with Easel squealing in fright as the other ferret attempts to wrestle. This happened almost immediately upon introduction, so we separated everyone and gave Easel a day or two to roam the territory, get familiar with the landscape, and have everyone get used to everyone else's scent. And she still reacted to Friday and Noodle the same way, and they got even more aggressive as they realized she was just going to run and run and run and not fight back. So, i traded Noodle and Friday for big, fat, lazy Sloan (a friend's ferret), and noticed that Easel isnt *afraid* of other ferrets' presences, she's just terrified of being chased. Sloan couldnt give a damn about Easel, and Easel couldnt give a damn about Sloan, except when Sloan galumphs her way. Easel *zoom*. In the cage, in the dryer hose, wandering around, they get along fine. Easel's just terrified of being chased. What do i do? My two are active pursuit hounds and wrestlers; so is Sloan, for that matter, and I spend a lot of time making sure Sloan and Easel play in situations where Easel isnt the underdog. I cant prevent ferrets from chasing ferrets in play - how do i get Easel's confidence up? Melissa ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Melissa Litwicki "Is it ... atomic?" [log in to unmask] "Yes! VERY atomic!" [Posted in FML issue 1671]