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Post by Sherry on Feb 14, 2012 14:54:18 GMT -5
I wound up using a fair bit of it on Suki when introducing her to Willow. But then Willow was quite aggressive. And I reapplied every time they were out together. I think daily should be ok for yours.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2012 21:12:21 GMT -5
Oh boy, this is a new one for me... So I applied Sudocrem to Fenton's neck and shoulders. Today when I got home, I let them out to play. Fenton and Finn started play-wresting, as is normal for them. I could tell Finn was avoiding biting Fenton's scruff because of the nasty sudocrem. Problem solved, right? Oh boy, no... he's too smart for that... Finn figured out that he could use his weight to pin Fenton down, and instead of latching on his neck and shoulders, he latched onto Fenton's FACE! Right on his cheek. Then he drug Fenton around by his cheek Then, he didn't want to let go, and I had to scruff Finn and tell him "NO!" for a few seconds before he would let go. This of course made Fenton furious. Fenton stayed mad at Finn for like 10 minutes after this! He followed Finn around, dooking angrily, and he kept trying to bite Finn on the face! He specifically went for Finn's face over and over, as if he was trying to get revenge for Finn biting him on the face. Finn didn't have any sudocrem on, Fenton could have bitten him anywhere, but he tried as hard as he could to only bite him on the face! I checked Fenton for injuries and he doesn't seem to have any, I don't think Finn bit hard enough to break the skin. Should I put sudocrem on Fenton's face? He would hate that
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2012 21:42:42 GMT -5
That's so teenager-like. "I'm bigger and stronger, so I can do what I want and no one can stop me."
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Post by Heather on Feb 14, 2012 21:52:06 GMT -5
No....don't put sudocreme on Fenton's face, he's going to think you're punishing him. It may be that for now you have to split the boys up or only allow them out together under very close supervision. Fenton wanted Finn to understand how horrible it felt and if you don't think that ferrets aren't like small children think again . Finn's smart, he still wanted his own way but the sudocreme tastes horrible, so he chose an alternative method of pinning Fenton. I'm afraid that if Finn keeps escalating his behaviour that Fenton is going to get hurt. Finn's a big, strong boy. I would bow to any suggestion offered by the people who keep intact ferrets, specifically hobs. Like I said before, Odin stayed comfortably with the group and when caged remained with Thor and Loki Bears (his friends he was turned in with) but....he was a lot older and this just might be the difference. It may very well be that next year Finn would be a good boy only forgetting himself once in awhile but this year he wants everyone to know he's in charge and that's he's a hob. He's still your lovable Finn, it's his hormones that are making him a royal pain ciao
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Post by Sherry on Feb 14, 2012 22:11:38 GMT -5
I agree- I think you may need to separate now, at least unless you are right there to separate them
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Post by nancyl on Feb 14, 2012 23:12:29 GMT -5
It's probably time to separate them. They'll most likely be alright after Finn goes out of rut. And, it may not be an issue next time around. The first rut is always the the worst. *She says after Roddy bit her on the hand this evening.* Hurt like a mofo, too.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2012 23:12:39 GMT -5
Aww, I hate to separate them But, I can't have my Fentons getting hurt. I think he was really upset about Fenton biting his face. I've never seen Fenton so angry, you could see it in his little eyes! Poor guy. I thought it was fascinating that Fenton insisted on dong the exact same thing back to Finn, biting him in the same place! There is obviously more going on in those fuzzy little heads than most people think! I wish I could see them during the day while I'm gone. So far I have only seen Finn pick on Fenton when they are out of the cage running around. I don't know if he has done it inside the cage. They usually seem to get along better when they are in the cage.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 14, 2012 23:19:19 GMT -5
Better to separate before Fenton loses all trust in his friend.
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Post by Heather on Feb 14, 2012 23:19:28 GMT -5
You know Mikey....I would hate that Finn really tore up either Fenton or Fiona in a hob rage. It is possible for Finn to seriously hurt either of them. If he had hit an eye or gator rolled Fenton while hanging on to his face, you'd be rushing Fenton to the vet. I'm not saying that this would happen but it could. I've heard of some real horror stories about what hobs can do. I just don't want you to be one of them ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2012 0:10:29 GMT -5
Yeah, I better not risk it. The good thing is that I have plenty of cage space for Finn to be on his own comfortably.
What about this though, do you think it would be safe for him to spend the night together with the other ferrets in the big cage, since I'm just in the other room and can break it up if they get into a tussle?
Then during the day I could put Finn into his own separate cage, so that nothing can happen while I'm gone at work.
Or do you think he needs to be separate even here when I'm home at night?
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Post by Sherry on Feb 15, 2012 0:40:19 GMT -5
If you aren't right there to immediately break it up, he needs to be separated. I'm sorry, but it's part of having what could well be an aggressive ferret, even if it's just because of rut. Both Lucrezia and Willow can do some very serious damage in a matter of seconds.
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Post by Heather on Feb 15, 2012 1:33:51 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but I've seen what my guys can do in seconds....your boy Finn is a third if not twice their size. No. When you're right there...ok, but not when you've got to pull yourself out of sleep and into the next room. I think it was Bev mentioned that one of her hobs ripped another from neck to base of the shoulder, bad enough that the vet suggested euthenasia. That's two hobs. Finn's twice Fentons size and you'd never forgive yourself if anything happened to either of your wee ones. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2012 4:00:57 GMT -5
Aww it's so sad to have to separate them! They are sleeping in a big furry pile. But I guess it's better to separate them BEFORE someone gets hurt... he's not fully in rut yet after all right? So it's likely to just get worse with time... He definitely beats up on Fenton more than Fiona, and I wonder if it's because of Fenton's reaction... When he tackles Fiona, she'll run away but when he catches her, she either doesn't put up much struggle, or doesn't fight back at all, so he'll pin her and get it over with then move on. With Fenton, however... When he goes to pin Fenton, Fenton fights back, and so they get into a big wrestling match, which Finn inevitably will win. But Fenton tries his best to win the fight, and he'll even go on the offensive, chasing after Finn trying to tackle him. So they both escalate the struggle until eventually the only way Finn can dominate Fenton is by clamping down harder and really pinning him down hard. Plus, Fenton has been in "summer mode" for a couple months now... Fenton is at his very most skinny, with a short summer coat, and he's VERY hyper, very fiesty, tons of energy, and more than willing to pick a fight with Finn even if Finn doesn't start it! But Fenton never will go so far as to really bite hard when he's fighting back, and that, along with his smaller size, seems to doom him to always lose the match in the end. Even if he did get really mad and bite Finn really hard, I am not sure if that would teach Finn a lesson to leave him alone, or just enrage Finn more so that Finn hurt him. It really seems like Fenton and Finn either never really established dominance, or else Fenton never fully accepted Finn being dominant. So I guess it could come a worst-case scenario where both Finn and Fenton are aggressive toward each other, but if Finn really gets mad and goes all-out I am sure he could hurt Fenton It hasn't happened yet but I see how it could happen easily. I was searching around online and I read some horror stories where a hob ended up killing even a spayed female he was living with when he went into rut
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2012 6:37:54 GMT -5
Just an update, I was getting Finn's new cage all set up and ready to go. When I was done, I went to the big cage to get Finn. Fenton, Fiona, and Finn all 3 woke up and came to see what I was doing. As they were peeking out the cage, Finn just casually started licking Fenton all over his head and neck, then just went CHOMP! and grabbed Fenton's ear, which made Fenton dook angrily. I said "NO!" and separated them, and Finn looked like, what, what did I do? Fenton wasn't injured but he was very annoyed. I have a feeling this latching / mounting behavior probably happens pretty often when I'm not around too, and I just didn't realize it sooner. I don't want to stress Fenton out, he's such a sweetie. I just feel sorry for Finn having to be all alone in his own cage [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/ i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/T_T.png"].png[/IMG] His cage is all set up though, and starting tomorrow morning he'll be staying in there. For tonight, I took pity on Finn and I'm letting him spend the night in my room with me. He's got some water and some freeze-dried so he'll be happy as a clam to sleep under my bed tonight. Poor bub. I knew this might be necessary when I went into this, I was just hoping I would be lucky and he would behave and not have to be separated. Oh well what can ya do!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2012 6:55:52 GMT -5
Finn relaxing in his new bachelor pad. I do have a 2nd story for him, it's just in storage, I'll probably get it tomorrow. Then he'll have tons of room for a single fert. Even with just the 1 cage he seems pretty happy with it. Untitled by walkerstop, on Flickr What is going to be tricky now, is what to do when I travel. This cage is usually my travel cage that they stay in when I visit my parents' house in the mountains, and all 3 ferrets stay in this cage together. I do still have a Super Pet cage, maybe what I'll do is take that cage to Heber and leave it there as a place for Finn to stay when I'm up there visiting. This is no big deal for me, just hope my parents are OK with having another cage up there, one that stays up there all the time no less! I think it will be OK though, it can probably sit on top of the FN travel cage and not take up any additional space.
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