Hello all hope you and your fuzzies are well?
 im going through the introduction process once again, I need some opinions with how to go about introducing the 2 boys Skibba and Shabba to Panda and Otto who are living together.

only one of my hobs Skibba isnt castrated and so im thinking ill leave him till last when he has also been done.

So how to go about introducing Shabba? this is the bit im having trouble with as Otto although not too aggressive is very dominant and just wont stop neck biting, Shabba isnt the most submissive ferret and I think because he fights it it just makes Ottos aggression esculate, im keeping the meetings short at this stage but any ideas here would be a big help! they were only castrated recently so im hoping over the next few months they will start to be more tolerant of other hobs???

and now for the hardest part, after Shabba and Otto are getting along ok its about Panda, she is terribly aggressive towards new fuzzies, poofing and going in for the kill straight away so im dreading this part..going through introducing Otto to her was a nightmare, thing is, I sort of wonder how I actually did it lol! im thinking neutral ground is the only way with her, she sees everyting in my house as hers..and the only breakthrough I had with her and Otto was letting them run round a neighbours living room..

so im just venting and seeking some sort of advice here..it seems a daunting task and what is putting more pressure on me is that my bf has developed an allergy to ferrets (hes allergic to cats too) and wants them all out of the house!! (panda and otto live outside in a two-storey hutch and the other two are having to be kept seperated indoors..this is alot of cleaning out and so frustrating! I just have to get them all living together outside and my bf will stop moaning..

argh sorry for this essay!

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hiya ... those intros are nerve wracking aren't they!!!
 
first thing you need to consider is this is hobs.. and they can be ruled by hormones.. i see you're in england so you could very well have 4 whole hobs on your hands... if this is the case ... i would see to having the boys castrated .. and wait about 10 -14 days before attempting an intro in case they are starting to feel a bit hormonal...
 
you'll get lots of advice about putting cages side by side and switching blankets, short play times, seperate them often... etc etc...  lots of good ideas but none of them ever worked for me...
 
i'm a bit harder with my gang cause i know they can take it... Ferrets are a LOT tougher than we like to think!
 
what i do is take them to a neutral play area... dump a bit of ferretone on my hand.. and back combe it through all the ferrets... this sorta helps them get the idea that the other ferret smells nice .. and interesting instead of mean and gonna take over my home...
 
then i dump them together... step back... and watch... sitting on my hands if neccessary...  Usually there will be ragging... screeching... poofy tails and even skunking... but so long as fearful poo is kept to a very minimum and there is no spurting bloodletting.... i leave them to it...
 
yeap.. they end up with scabby necks for a bit... but i know my ferrets can kill a rabbit with a single bite... if all they are doing is leaving lil punctures and scabs on each others necks... they aren't really serious are they? 
 
my theory is this.. THEY HAVE TO SORT IT OUT!! the more you seperate them... the more you intervene the more times you make them meet for the first time....  the longer and harder it will be for them!
 
when DO i intervene?  if i notice a ferret is absolutely terrified trying to hide, pooing with fear... refusing to come out of the hiding spot even for a little look... or if there is actual blood flow.... i take the ferret on the offense out... not to disipline or anything but just to give the scared one a chance to calm down... maybe comfort them a bit.. offer a bit of tone.. reassure them .... set them back down and let them have a bit of a wander on their own.... then try again...
 
if they scrap and fight and then seperate ... then come back for more.... well then.. just sit tight... or after watching for 15-20 min to be sure there is no bloodspilling... go have a cup of coffee where you cant hear them!! 
 
the longer you wait... the harder it will be... and the harder you will find it to listen to the screeching and worry that someone is getting killed...
 
i leave them to get on with it until they start wandering off to fall asleep.... then dump them all together back into the shed and trust that they will sort themselves out...
 
this has worked for me in 90% of the intro's i've done.. but there have been some exceptions... small kits getting stranded in a pipe and harassed on either side by angry adults.... (thats just not fair!!) a very timid jill with a history of being attacked by both her owner and her fellow ferrets... ( she has now gone on to have her own small group) and a micro jill who is so small she would just hide under the nest box and never venture out except at night to feed...
 
but in the majority of cases... let them sort it out is the way i would go ...

Thanks so much for the solid advice there! I appreciate it alot as im not experenced introducing more than one...Pandy is a jill and is was spayed early this year, she is a softie with people but she is the most violent with new ferrets..although I feel Otto (who is the hob she lives with) is the dominant of the two..

I only have one ferret left to neuter, hopefully this will be done soon...would you say to wait till I have both the new boys neutered and introduce them together or would it work introducing one at a time starting wth the one that has been castrated?

also, the process you suggest sounds like it could be the only way im going to do it..the softly approach isnt working..I was just wondering how long it takes? like a day? for them all to be living together or would you do this over a couple of days/weeks?

again, many thanks from me and my fuzzies =)

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i'd say go ahead and start with the ones that are castrated... the longer you put it off the worse it will be... lol for YOU lol
 
as for how long it takes... well i've had it take 5 min... and 5 weeks i'm afraid... its really down to your ferrets!
 
be tough... they are!
 
if its hard to watch.... watch for 20-30 min... if nothing HORRID happens.. go where you cant hear or see them... let them sort it out...

Thanks for the help, I will let you know how it goes! =)

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