My old ferret attacks my new ones.

Question
Hi Sheila,

I just purchased 2 new ferrets last night for my buddy Leo who lost his playmate about 2 weeks ago. Leo is 2 years old and the new ones Chubs (male) is almost 7 months and the little girl (havent thought of a fitting name) is 3 months. Leo and his old playmate Piper (she was 1 year)used to play quite frequently. Now with his new playmates he tends to ignore them except when he decides to attack them. He just chases them down and aggressively grabs them on the back of the neck and once in a while the ear. Sometimes he drags them off into a corner and he shakes them pretty violently at times. He seems to be much rougher with these two then he was with his previous sister and although he did drag her into corners on occasion, she rarely squealed when they were playing. My new girl just squeals continously when he does this and Chubs sometimes squeals and usually moans while trying to fight back. Leo tends to attack Chubs much more often but he is also a really big and slightly chubby ferret so he is the slowest of all three. Is my Leo being overly aggressive with his new friends or is this normal? So far they haven't bled and they don't poop out of fear but they do try to run from him and sometimes nip at him if he comes too close.

Answer
What you're describing is perfectly normal new ferret-established ferret behavior. Ferrets have their own unique pecking order, and the established ferret will feel threatened by new comers. Ferrets will "fight" it out, however, it's not really fighting and no one gets hurt. He will show his dominance by grabbing the new ferrets by their neck or head, and try to drag them. He will do this repeatedly until they submit. Yes it can get a little rough but it'll all part of the process. Just keep an eye on them to make sure there is no bleeding, pooping, or screaming, which will mean it's getting out of hand at that point.