Post by Sherry on Dec 8, 2013 5:26:45 GMT -5
What worked getting first Frodo, and finally Lucrezia to leave others alone was to slather sudocream on the neck, shoulders, and head of the "victim" ferret. I let them in a smaller area with lots of toys, tubes, etc. If the attacker ferret walked up to the new one to sniff I let it happen. The minute they actually attacked I gave a 3 minute time out in a small empty cat carrier.
Repeat as often as needed. 15 minutes out together at first, and gradually increase the time together as the attacks decreased.
Yes, there is a lot of frustration. Yes, it escalates at first. But by literally following behind and stopping the attack and consistently using the time outs I noticed after a couple of weeks the aggressor would start stalking, then veer off more often than not. It went from that to completely ignoring the victim unless directly in front of each other(still had to use the odd time out). And from that to finally accepting each other and then sleeping together. No, they haven't completely bonded but now they all accept each other and will eat, sleep, and play.
Repeat as often as needed. 15 minutes out together at first, and gradually increase the time together as the attacks decreased.
Yes, there is a lot of frustration. Yes, it escalates at first. But by literally following behind and stopping the attack and consistently using the time outs I noticed after a couple of weeks the aggressor would start stalking, then veer off more often than not. It went from that to completely ignoring the victim unless directly in front of each other(still had to use the odd time out). And from that to finally accepting each other and then sleeping together. No, they haven't completely bonded but now they all accept each other and will eat, sleep, and play.
