ferret play or fight

Question
We bought a male at the age of 10 wks. found another male about 1 month later who is about 8 yrs. they get along fine except for what i call dragging, the younger one Lockie will take stinky by the scruff of the neck and drag him across the floor, now while out at a local pet store we came across two females about 8 and 10 wks old, lockie will chase but will end up dragging them too. Is this normal play or something to worry about? I have the 2 males separated from the 2 baby females and only allow them to play together when being watched.  Thank You Tina M

Answer
Hi Tina:

I can understand your concern, especially considering one ferret is eight years old - that's considered 'elderly', so you may want to be particularly protective of that one.

For the most part, what you are describing is normal behavior between ferrets. They play hard together as youngsters and they eventually determine who is the 'alpha' ferret (the "boss")....usually the one doing the dragging.  Lockie is definitely trying to tell the others "hey, I'm the boss here".  VERY normal. If he didn't do it, one of the others would, so he's not being bad or anything, just normal 'pecking order' in ferrets.

There are only three cases in which we separate ferrets when they are wrestling or dragging each other around (because they also 'bond' during this time) - the saying is "NO POOP, NO BLOOD, NO FOUL".   So, as long as the one being dragged, bit or wrestled - as long as he/she is not pooping or bleeding, don't separate them.  Fighting to the point of causing the other ferret to poop or bleed is very unusual, but it does sometimes happen that ferrets need to be housed separately......unless they tell you over and over that they really DON'T want to be together (screaming, poop flying, etc), they will no doubt settle down in a very short time and just bond together into one (hopefully very large, for four ferrets) cage.  Be sure each ferret has his or her own little bedding area where they can crawl off and away from the others if they prefer to sleep alone - at least four hammocks with flannel baby blankets to cover themselves up with, sleep sacks, a towel to crawl down into, etc - each would constitute one sleep area.  Once they are all used to each other, you can probably get by with one very large bed for all four ferrets to sleep in - a big beach towel, etc.  It does take time for them to form a bond, tho, so separate sleep areas are recommended for a while - just watch them and you will know when they have finally bonded.

From what I can tell, tho, your ferrets are just getting to know each other.  Please do recognize that the 8 year old may need to be protected a bit more than the others...but then again, he may also appreciate snuggling at night even more with the other ferrets - you will just have to watch him for his reactions and see what he is telling you he would rather do.

Hope that helps. Best of luck to you and your little ones! Don't hesitate to write again if there is any way I can help!

Sincerely,
Jacquie Rodgers