Introducing new ferret to old ferret?

[Kristina Martinez]

Ok. We have a female ferret (tails) who is now 1 year and 4 months old. We have had her since she was 6 months old. Just 2 days ago, my friend couldn't take care of her ferret anymore, because she has a 1 year old boy who cannot be around the smell. So she asked us if we wanted him. He is a 4 year old male ferret. (Angus). So we took him in. He is a bit thin, and he is losing hair on his tail, but we are giving him vitamins in his water, and different food and he seems to love it.

Well we don't want to keep them caged separate forever. So we take him out of his cage in the morning since I am a stay at home nanny, and put him in her cage. They don't seem to be vicious toward one another, but when they play, one of them squeaks. Now I always look over them and I see no blood, scratches, or wounds. So I am assuming they are playing. When we let them out to play, he seems to want to play more then her. But she tends to give in every few seconds. We notice if they are in her cage, they don't curl up to each other to sleep. They sleep away from each other. When he got here, we gave him a bath with the same shampoo she uses to give them kind of the same scent. And when they play, we give her more treats then him so she knows we still love her.
We are making a vet appointment for them in the end of July being that she needs her year check up, and we have no papers on him.


When will we know they are FIGHTING if they start to?
When should we leave them in the same cage OVERNIGHT?
What should we give him to gain more weight?
And any other tips you may have?!

 

[Arabella Olson]

Okay, I used this technique with my rats, so it might work.

Put them in separate cages, but close enough so that they can sniff each other, for a bout a week or two. After that, put them in a neutral territory, (Bathtub), but bring a towel to cover on if they fight. put them in there, and monitor them. close the bathroom door so they can't escape. rub a bit of deodorant that you use often on the nape of their necks, so they smell like you, so that the one you have had the longest knows that you are there on it. If they don't fight badly, put them both in a cage together. I would monitor them for a bit, and if they fight like this: one pins the other one down, that is to show dominance, that is okay. If it gets worse, remove one, and put it in a different cage again, and start the process over.