you need a ferret care book plus a call to a vet or pet shop they know the answer to that
How can I ease the introduction my timid ferret to the others?
I am the owner of three very sweet, fun-loving ferrets. Two of them get along very well and have been living together for years. I got the third ferret a couple years later, and when I tried introducing her to the other two, they would gang up on her and attack her. I know this neck-biting and hissing is perfectly normal when introducing a new ferret, but the matter was made worse by the new ferret’s timid and non-aggressive personality. She is an easy target for the other two and they just keep attacking her. She gets so frightened and intimidated that she starts trembeling and will seek out any human to pick her up and protect her. I don’t know if she will ever get along with the other ferrets but I think they could really enjoy each other’s company once they establish a pecking order. If anyone has any suggestions about how I can help all three ferrets get along and ease the trauma for the newcommer, please let me know.
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3 comments - add yours
Linnie
November 8, 2009
Huh?
November 8, 2009
If you have them in different cages, put them close enough that they can see each other and smell the others scent without being able to get at each other. Then take some of the bedding out of the bossy butts’ cage and put it into her cage and hers into theirs so they can get used to each others scent. Then only give them time out of the cage seperate from each other, but still able to smell through the cage. After a while let them out together, but always supervise. As long as there isn’t any blood shed and the timid one is not kept from eating don’t interfere. They have to establish rank or it won’t ever be peaceful. I would also interfere if they scared her so badly that she lost control of her bodily functions and pooped or peed on herself. You’ll need a lot of patience with these guys and she’ll have to go through this. Ferret skin is very touch and things may look a lot worse than they are. They will drag her clear through the room by the skin on her neck and there will be lots of squealing, but you already found that out.
Have you tried letting only one of the bossy ferrets interact with the timid one? See which one she takes to better and let them establish a relationship. After a while introduce the third and see what happens.
I hope you don’t have one of these rare cases on your hands where they just absolutely will not ever accept her in their ranks. That would be sad, but it is slightly possible. Hope not.
Good luck to you, hope things work out.
Oh, another thing that sometimes makes things a bit easier is if you give ALL of them a bath on the day you try to introduce them again and change everyones bedding. That way there is no strange smells, all smell alike. Ferrets are very olfactory animals.
Japandra
November 8, 2009
First, do exactly what “Huh?” said, and then join this website ( http://www.ferretuniverse.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi )! As a ferret owner, it’s the best thing I did!
Also, it wouldn’t hurt to get the book “Ferrets For Dummies”, it’s a great resource.