Ferret not accepting new kit

[anna-ferret]

Hello!   We have 2 female ferrets, about 3 1/2 years old, and one female kit, about 6 months old.   We had Coco for about 2 months before we got Zuma, and there were no problems between the 2 of them, and they've been a happily bonded pair for all these years.   This summer we got a female kit and Coco seems to just hate her.   I admit that we did not do the initial introduction as slowly as we should have but when it was not going well we backed off immediately.   Once Zuma and Millie (the kit) could start playing together they were getting along great, but Zuma ended up with a GI bug and all 3 were separated for a while.   Then we figured out Coco needed the adrenal implant and I stopped any kind of attempts at interaction between her and Millie while we gave the implant time to work.   They play at separate times but all share all the same play areas and toys, and I switch blankets between cages (Coco usually will stop sleeping wherever I put one of Millie's blankets).   They can see each other from their cages.  It's been 5 weeks so we have started to try some contact in neutral areas again, but Coco immediately attacks.  Millie outweighs her by probably 3/4 of a pound so we were hoping at this point she would not be as scared but she is terrified.   She fights back now but still gets scared enough to poop.   I worry Coco will become depressed as she can see Zuma and Millie playing while she is stuck in her cage (she still gets plenty of time out of the cage with Zuma too).   And I worry about Millie not having a cage mate.  I just don't know what else to do.   We tried pinning Coco down and letting Millie have at her, but she won't do it - Millie just runs away.   We would welcome any advice or ideas!

[abbeytheferret6]

Not saying they wont eventually like each other--- as I did have 2 ferret females that did not like a newbie female I got, but I had a big pvc tube that ran the length of my couch that I placed behind it for the newbie to run into as well as some corrugated drainage pipes about. They never did go in after her once she went in them. If they had of, I would have considered that a failure. The one that despised her the most finally accepted her and cuddled with her often. The other never fought with her, nor did they cuddle. Just tolerated her. 

I also had a kit that one of my females shook so, that she got a limp which healed after separating them. I thought Abbey would like to play mother---not. So, they can get hurt if you do not separate them.

One my males, Buddy I definitely had to keep away from other ferrets. I stretched out a ferret playpen and had some heavy furniture hold the ends against the wall. I let that ferret have the back rooms for awhile while the others had front rooms. I would switch out  their places after a couple days. I lived with that arrangement for years---until they passed. He had no companions but we played with him a lot and he was contented.

[abbeytheferret6]

holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/25832/new-boy-cooperate


The pic of the x-ray in the thread I copied for you is that of my Annabelle's leg after my new boy(Buddy) had a fight with her. She chased him but when they tied up, he got the best of her.

[anna-ferret]

Thanks for the response. I don't let it progress to the point of anyone getting injured - usually I pull them apart but Millie will poop pretty quickly. She is kind of a fraidy cat in general about most things and so just does not tolerate much before she is terrified.

[silentdook]

You're doing the right thing by separating early. Pooping on its own doesn't sound terrible to some folks, but it's a sign she's very stressed by the encounter. There's still a chance Coco will settle down more, but it's not worth Millie being stressed.

[unclejoe]

sorry to hear about this difficult situation. One thing ferrets have taught me is patience. I've had 32 ferrets and for the most part just added the new ones to the busyness as they came along. there have some notabe exceptions of course, all but one of which eventually figured it out on their own.
When I brought Scamp home, he hated Pandora for some reason. Actively hunted her down and attacked. This went on for months, then one day I found them sleeping in the same bed. 2 weeks later, Scamp died of a blockage.
Miss Prissy only ever liked one other ferret in her 10 years, and after Booboo died she was a loner.
Keep trying, with supervision. It's up to them.

Pandy and Scamp

IMG_2449 by unclejoe1158, on Flickr

IMG_2454 by unclejoe1158, on Flickr

[abbeytheferret6]

So precious!

[unclejoe]

I cried when I took the pics and i cry every time i see them