Established Ferret Having Trouble With Newcomer!

Question
A week ago we added a new ferret to our bonded pair. My original pair, are a male and female, about 2 years old and 3 years old. They have had interactions with  other ferrets as I will occasionally foster a ferret in need through a local rescue. Our male, Angel, loves everyone, new or old, but our female has trouble accepting new ferrets sometimes. Our last foster was very rambunctious and confident and had no problem standing to our female, Baby. So that introduction eventually ended in peace!

However, we added our new female, Ferra, to the group as permanent member. Ferra is very quiet and not the fighting type. She loves to play, but will scare very easily during confrontation. In fact, she will usually hide with us and cuddle until she feels safe again. Baby has caught on to this, and now is getting aggressive with Ferra. She does not draw blood or really HURT her I don't think, but she is definitely asserting her dominance.

I have read up a lot on introducing new ferrets and have tried a lot the suggestions already.

I know they are going to have fights, but Ferra is only about 4-5 months old and I don't want her getting hurt, or traumatized of other ferrets. I know getting along with our males helps her see that not all ferrets are bad, but I am not sure WHEN I should interfere. How do we handle Baby and Ferra together??

Also I am unsure how much is Ferra's fear, and how much is actually Baby being mean!

Any help would be appreciated!!!  

Answer
Hi Christina,

Congratulations on the new member of the family!

Introductions are difficult. The general rule of thumb is that if no one is screaming in terror or pain, no one is bleeding and no one is having the poop literally scared out of them, then we ferret parents can't really interfere. Unfortunately, you really just have to let them fight out their dominance issues. Keep them in separate cages when they aren't out running around and when they are running around together, make sure you watch them and be vigilant for any of those signs to make sure you don't have to intervene.

They should get used to each other after a while. It is said that introducing female ferrets to each other is harder than introducing a male and a female. I've not had a problem with it, but I've heard that before. They are just trying to figure out their pecking order. Give them some time to get used to each other and it should be fine! Remember, though, that some ferrets just don't get along. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like this is the case with your Baby and Ferra.

I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews