Post by pixiee on Aug 8, 2018 5:06:40 GMT -5
Hi there, my name is Piper! (bit new to this so please bare with me here..)
So I have had ferrets since about Feb this year, and have already experienced loss of one fuzzy. Anyway, for a couple months I had Alfie and Freyja (the babes in my avatar pic) on their own. They have bonded really well and my partner and I finally decided we were ready for a couple more! Both Alf and Freyja are around 2 years old.
So we picked up 2 new boys this week named Loki (albino kit, about 9 months old) and Boris (sable boy, about 2 years old.) Loki gets on just fine with our bonded pair, they spent a bit of time together at the rescue/boarding house while we were on holidays, he is completely crazy as you'd expect from a kit and a little bitey in play (I have already suffered a tooth hole or 2 in my fingers... working on it
) he's a great little guy and loves a cuddle with the other two.
Boris, however, is a different story. We picked him because he seemed quite laid back, and we were hoping for another lazy boy to hang out with Freyja as Alf is a bit crazy sometimes too. And, in saying that, he is quite laid back, and amazinnnng with humans, doesn't bite or hiss at us and is happy for some love to be given. But, we first noticed something was wrong the first night we brought them home. He was fine during introductions, everyone seemed happy and getting along great play fighting and war dancing, but as soon as they were put in a cage together he became the biggest bully. He would hunt down Loki and attack him, it doesnt seem to be a personal space thing as he will continuously chase him around the cage until Loki finds himself a spot where big chubby Boris can't fit. At first we thought it was a dominance thing, and maybe it is, but he has started doing it to Alf and Freyja too. We put them in the cage at night, he finds himself a spot to lay or goes up to the others already cuddled up, and attacks, non stop, chasing them around until they hide out of reach. It has begun happening during floor time too. He will release a foul smell whilst doing it as well, and fluffs his tail up big (the others seem to just run, Freyja would fight back but he is 4 times her size!)
I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice or has ever experienced the same thing??? He is with us on trial at the moment, and my head is saying perhaps he just won't get on in Freyja's business, and we should return him so he can find a better home. But my heart really likes him, because apart from this he is such a character and so funny! I'm fighting a losing battle here and I'm running out of ideas! We also don't have another cage to separate them that I feel comfortable leaving him in (its quite small, more for timeouts.) I'm going to try washing them all together, and washing all the bedding and cleaning the cage so they all are on equal grounds tomorrow, is there anything else I can do if that doesn't work? Do I maybe need a bigger cage for them all? Or is it just not going to happen? The boarding/rescue place never had an issue with him. Please help!
So I have had ferrets since about Feb this year, and have already experienced loss of one fuzzy. Anyway, for a couple months I had Alfie and Freyja (the babes in my avatar pic) on their own. They have bonded really well and my partner and I finally decided we were ready for a couple more! Both Alf and Freyja are around 2 years old.
So we picked up 2 new boys this week named Loki (albino kit, about 9 months old) and Boris (sable boy, about 2 years old.) Loki gets on just fine with our bonded pair, they spent a bit of time together at the rescue/boarding house while we were on holidays, he is completely crazy as you'd expect from a kit and a little bitey in play (I have already suffered a tooth hole or 2 in my fingers... working on it
) he's a great little guy and loves a cuddle with the other two. Boris, however, is a different story. We picked him because he seemed quite laid back, and we were hoping for another lazy boy to hang out with Freyja as Alf is a bit crazy sometimes too. And, in saying that, he is quite laid back, and amazinnnng with humans, doesn't bite or hiss at us and is happy for some love to be given. But, we first noticed something was wrong the first night we brought them home. He was fine during introductions, everyone seemed happy and getting along great play fighting and war dancing, but as soon as they were put in a cage together he became the biggest bully. He would hunt down Loki and attack him, it doesnt seem to be a personal space thing as he will continuously chase him around the cage until Loki finds himself a spot where big chubby Boris can't fit. At first we thought it was a dominance thing, and maybe it is, but he has started doing it to Alf and Freyja too. We put them in the cage at night, he finds himself a spot to lay or goes up to the others already cuddled up, and attacks, non stop, chasing them around until they hide out of reach. It has begun happening during floor time too. He will release a foul smell whilst doing it as well, and fluffs his tail up big (the others seem to just run, Freyja would fight back but he is 4 times her size!)
I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice or has ever experienced the same thing??? He is with us on trial at the moment, and my head is saying perhaps he just won't get on in Freyja's business, and we should return him so he can find a better home. But my heart really likes him, because apart from this he is such a character and so funny! I'm fighting a losing battle here and I'm running out of ideas! We also don't have another cage to separate them that I feel comfortable leaving him in (its quite small, more for timeouts.) I'm going to try washing them all together, and washing all the bedding and cleaning the cage so they all are on equal grounds tomorrow, is there anything else I can do if that doesn't work? Do I maybe need a bigger cage for them all? Or is it just not going to happen? The boarding/rescue place never had an issue with him. Please help!
