john
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two ferret males biting one another
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Thursday, July 24, 2014 12:25 PM
Hi there! We have 2 ferret males, brothers, 3 months old. They sleep together in one cage, they lick one another while asleep. But when awake and active, 90% of time they fight hard against one another. Both of them have bloody crusts (wounds) on their backs for about two weeks, they do not have time to heal as they hurt themselves all the time. We have got second cage, so we can separate them for the sleep. While awake and free running in our flat, we let them play together, but when they start fights, we separate them in different rooms. It's very time consuming and exhausting (we let them out from the cage 3-4 times a day for average 1,5 hour). We plan to castrate them, but it's still several months to go. My question is - will their fights decrease after castration? If it will not be much better, we will not be able to handle them and will have to give one of them away. And in this case it would be better to put one of them away now, when they are 3 months old, rather then when they will be 8 months old. thanks for advance for any comments and sorry for my perhaps not always clear english Greetings from Czech Republic Jan
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notreve
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Re:two ferret males biting one another
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Thursday, July 24, 2014 6:27 PM
I thought the exact same thing with my 3 boys. They would always rip each other apart, they'd make horrible noises and I thought it was never going to end. However a lot of people said that this was normal behaviour for young boys. It calmed down a little bit but when they reach 5 months we had them neutured and they were just as energetic but a lot less aggressive. Best way to think about it is that right now they are like hormonal teenagers and at 5/6 months old you can get them neutured and they'll be less aggressive. By then as well they should have decides who the dominant one is too. So the will always fight (they are ferrets, that's what they do) but it will be a lot more playful and less aggressive. However the blood is a concern. I never had any problems with that. Maybe worth separating them for a little bit just to let the wounds heal. But I'm not too sure about this, maybe someone else could advise about the bleeding.
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notreve
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Re:two ferret males biting one another
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Thursday, July 24, 2014 6:30 PM
Also keep their play environment interesting. New toys, new smells, this will help keep them stimulated and more distracted and less inclined to go at each other. As soon as they get bored of everything around them then that's when they attack each other.
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john
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Re:two ferret males biting one another
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Friday, July 25, 2014 8:05 AM
Thank you for the answer and I hope, we will be able to manage them. But I am still worried about the wounds. According playing environment - yes, they love new toys and they are able to play with new things for about five minutes before attacking one another. But only in case, both of them have something new and new things are interesting for them :-) That means about 36 new toys a day ;-D. When they are separated, they are able to play much much longer. BTW, when we allowed them to go to new room for first time, they stop fighting for about 10 minutes :-)
<message edited by john on Friday, July 25, 2014 8:06 AM>
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wenmister
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Re:two ferret males biting one another
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Friday, July 25, 2014 12:13 PM
Member in blocked list
boys will be boys....if they are playing rough and causing sores on the neck. If it was my ferrets, then I would give them separate play time. >Both of them have bloody crusts (wounds) on their backs for about two weeks, I would also cleanup the wounds with some soap and water, let it heal. To me it's not worth it, then to shell out the extra money for vet bill....if the wound gets infected. Just suggestion, I hope this helps
<message edited by wenmister on Friday, July 25, 2014 12:15 PM>
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leeandparker
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Re:two ferret males biting one another
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Friday, July 25, 2014 4:46 PM
Neutering will calm them down a bit but it will not stop fighting. The biggest difference neutering has is smell and the prevention of babies. Drawing blood when fighting means they are being too rough. Most ferrets learn when to stop but if they keep attacking it could be intentional. You probably got two alpha ferrets meaning it is safest to have the two cages and watch them closely.
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