I need help introducing my two ferrets.?

[Kim Tuter]

I got a single ferret back in December and have not had any problems with her. I always wanted and intended for her to have a playmate, but at the time I could only afford one. So, two and a half days ago I got her a playmate. The pet store did not specify how old they are, but the little male I got is pretty small and still has some milk teeth. My already established ferret will be a year old next month (September).


My girl does not really want anything to do with the little guy. She seems frightened. I give them little meetings here and there and their cages are next to each other so they can get acquainted to each other. For the first two days, basically, if she smelled the new ferret, she'd just hide. Even now, which is coming on the third day, she hides if I let her out anywhere besides the room where their cages are.

Today I gave them a meeting and she was more interested in him, but still cautious. However, she started smelling him and licking him, which was so exciting. The only bad part is now whenever she tries to approach him, he jumps at her and nips at her and it frightens her to the point where she pees and runs, so I have to separate again. I know these things take time and I feel like there is progress, but every website I've checked always instructs what to do if your established ferret is being aggressive and dominate, which doesn't seem to really be the case here. She only hissed and wagged her tail at him once and has not done it since. I don't want to damage any relationship I had with my girl. She doesn't want to play at all anymore... instead she sniffs around and hides. Sometimes she even runs if she sees me. Other times, she is so clingy and wants to constantly be held.

Thank you for any help. I'm just worried.

 

[DBlood]

I hope you don't mind if I tell the story of my ferrets in an attempt to help you. It'll be easier for me. I've had three ferrets and I've gotten them all at different times.
My very first ferret I ever got was named Nibbles. He was maybe four years old at the time. He loved me, but didn't take to other people too well. He was always watching you[anyone that he could watch] and that freaked some people out. He had a slight bitting problem because he didn't like noise at all.
After having him for I guess a few months, me and Mum decided to get a baby ferret. Nibbles fell in love with her from the very beginning. At first we had her in a little carrier cage and him in the two story ferret cage. I would let him out and he would go near the carrier to investigate. Maybe you should try this, keep the new ferret in his cage and let your baby girl play around and if she's interested she'll go near the cage and she'll be smart enough to know that theirs a barrier between them. Since she wasn't raised around other ferrets it's going to be harder for her to adjust.
Nibbles died about a year ago. Mum and I don't exactly know of what but it was extremely upsetting for me. Nibbles had become dangerously thin and fragile. He died in his sleep the day I was suppose to get another ferret.
Kitsune in going to be two years old in Dec. The day Nibbles died was the day I was adopting yet another ferret named Abu. I got him at about two years old. The ferret he was use to was dying of cancer so he was with other ferrets before. It took time for Kitsune to get use to Abu. After two days I decided to see how they played together. They played rough, which was frightening for me. Nibbles was never rough with Kitsune because he was old and didn't have the energy to keep up with Kitsune, so I wasn't use to the way Kitsune and Abu we're playing. I watched them carefully and let them play. After 30 minutes I put them back in their seperate cages. I did this everyday, making their play time longer each day, for a week before putting them into a cage together. Their hasn't been much trouble between their relationship.
I was scared just last night though when I was woken up by Kitsune squeaking/screaming. I though Abu was attacking/hurting Kitsune, I found out though that Kitsune was having a seizure and biting Abu during it because she was scared.
It's going to take time for your girl to get use to this new ferret since it doesn't sound like she was raised with any others. Give her time out to play and keep the new one in the cage for about a week. You can also let the new one out of course but keep her in her cage at that time since she's scared. Try this and then after a week try putting them together to play. If she's still scared put a peice of his bedding in her cage and a peice of her bedding in his cage so they can get use to each other's sense. You don't want to overwhelm your baby. Good luck.
Please e-mail me for any more help
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