Re: Alpha fighting

Question
I am writing about my Alpha female, 4 years-old, diagnosed with EGE
(currently in remission).  She and her little female companion came from a
ferret shelter with numerous other ferrets, cats, dogs.  I took them once to a
ferret sitter and that's when I was told Linguini was Alpha - she apparently
attacked every ferret in sight.  She is very affectionate and playful with her
little buddy ferret.  

I got another pair from the same shelter last April.  She did the same thing
with them, so I kept them separate, made sure all had quality time with me
and their pals.  Every now and then I'd take them out and scruff n' drag
Linguini when she attacked and put her into time out. Took 3 months and
then one day she just started playing with the Newbies and they get along
great since, even sleep peacefully together.  Why the attacks suddenly
stopped I'll never know.

I recently acquired a young gib who gets along fantastically with everyone -
except of course, Linguini, my Alpha.  So I am doing the same thing as
before, keeping them separate, etc.  However, there is a difference this time.  
Linguini is the one being aggressive as before, attacking, shaking the little
guy - BUT she is the one who also lets the poop fly when she is attacking.  
She didn't do this last time with the other two. I thought the ferret being
attacked is the one who poops because of fear - not the attacker.  So I am
confused - why is she pooping when she is the one attacking??  

And yes, I am keeping them separate, slowly testing the waters with
supervision carefully over time.  When I put them together its only for a few
seconds - Linguini instantly attacks, pooping all the while.  I didn't drag n'
scruff this time because of the pooping.  Not sure how to handle this
additional complication nor what to make of it.  Advice please?

Thanks!
PS - my vet does not have any suggestions on how to deal with this, nor why
the attacker is the one pooping.

Answer

****TRESSIE: Please see note at bottom****
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Hi Tressie:

Oh my....I'm afraid you've gotten some very wrong information somewhere!  Even your vet is not ambitious enough to try to straighten this out.  I am going to try anyway and hopefully you will understand.

When ferrets get together, there is *always* an alpha ferret. Someone is always the boss. This is not a bad thing; the alpha ferret should not be punished for being an alpha ferret - it's like being the *boss* of the group. The alpha often keeps other ferrets out of trouble by stopping them from jumping for too high, getting into things they are not supposed to, etc.

Your alpha ferret has apparently been scruffed and dragged for being an alpha ferret - and this is why she is pooping as she is doing her alpha duties. :-)  She is afraid that even tho she does what is natural to her, you will punish her.  I hope you won't drag and scruff her. She is the 'matriarch' and she is earning the respect of the younger ferrets.

It's very important that you just let all the ferrets out so they can work out their own pecking order. They really won't hurt each other!  I'm not sure who told you to separate them - but they have been terribly misinformed. This is *normal* for ferrets and you just must stand by and let them work out their problems.

The *ONLY* time you intervene is when a huge adult ferret is hurting a little baby and the baby poops. THEN, you pick up the baby, comfort it, then PUT IT BACK DOWN.....IF the ferret runs AWAY from the others, it is actually scared and needs some separate play time until it gets bigger and/or used to the roughhousing that ferrets do.  If it runs back TOWARDS the other ferrets, it was just being a baby ferret and screaming while playing.  Okay?  It all depends upon whether the ferret being removed runs TO the one that was "fighting" it, or AWAY from the ferret that was "fighting" it.  I say "fighting" because ferrets PLAY really really hard and it can be mistaken for fighting.

I hope you will get with the shelter operator, show her my letter, and make sure she understands the difference too. EVERY group of two or more ferrets had an Alpha ferret!  They are certainly NOT to be punished for taking the lead in their group. It is often the oldest ferret, but also can be the biggest ferret.  Very very rarely do we ever have to separate ferrets because they fight too much or too hard.

IF you see blood OR if you see the one being picked on run AWAY from the attacker after a few seconds of being separated from the fight, it is truly scared and should be separated at least for a short time to rest.  You should *never* house one ferret alone because it is either an Alpha OR a sissy.  Ferrets are very very social critters and the stress they experience when housed alone when there are other ferrets in the house is tremendous.  

Some folks deal with this by making two play groups - some smaller ferrets who all get along with each other; and another group of larger, older ferrets who are better matched to wrestle each other.

Ferrets play VERY VERY hard and they make a lot of noise when they do it. THIS IS NORMAL.  Please please don't punish your little ones for playing rough, k?  That is what is making your Alpha poop - she is afraid she will be punished (scruffed & dragged) for telling the newbies that she is the Alpha.  

Here are some great play ideas ferret owners.

http://www.everythingferret.com/toy_and_game_ideas.htm

I reallly recommend you read about ferrets and how social they are. Someone has misinformed you and they sure aren't doing ferrets any good by passing this wrong information on to people who adopt ferrets from the shelter.  I *hope* you have misunderstood her, but I'm concerned that she is perpetuating this myth that ferrets are so mean they need to be separated - that is certainly the exception, not the rule.

If I can help more, or if you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  I appreciate the opportunity to clear this up for you and hope you are open to listening to suggestions.  It sounds like maybe you need to have a long talk with the shelter operator, okay?  The welfare of the ferrets is what we are primarily concerned about here.

If I can help in ANY way, please don't hesitate to contact me, okay?  I would like to give you my private email address so I can follow up on this....next time you write, write to me as "private" so I can give my email addy to you?

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers
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Jacquie, I have sent another post to you because the system shows you are not receiving questions. So I don't know which you'll get first but wanted to thank you for your timely and appropriate advice. And wanted to correct a misunderstanding. It was never the shelter director who advised me how to handle Linguini but the ferret sitter, who coincidentally also runs another shelter. Your insight helped tremendously! I took my little Alpha, Linguini, out this morning, apologized to her for interfering with her important job of matriarch, reassured her that I would never punish her again and let them all out. She chased the Newbie until he rolled over on his back - no poop, no attacking. Once he accepted her dominance - that was it! They all played together and all is well. Wish I had known this before, but glad I do now. Thank you so much! Sincerely, Tressie
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Hi Tressie:

Thank you so much for writing. Yes, I see that it was the 'sitter' that had advised you wrong.  I'm SO incredibly happy for you and all the ferrets that introductions went so well!  This should certainly make your life easier, allow the ferrets to have a much much happier life...just great all around.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to help!  And thank you, especiallly, for being open to a suggestion. You'd be surprised at the folks who say 'that's nice', then proceed to do exactly as they always have.  You're obviously an incredible person AND ferret mommy. :-)



Happy Holidays to you & yours.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers