# New ferret fighting Help



## Christine Vigus (Apr 10, 2017)

I have four males who are castrated and one female. I have recently received a new ferret Eli who has been in a car accident and is deaf and lost one eye and has also been castrated. The others have accepted him except one gimli who is being very rough which is unusual behaviour for him. I am worried about how much stress i can put Eli under as he has such a rough time. Any help would be appreciated.

Also Eli was spoiled by the vets and won't eat biscuits only cat food any ideas on how to swap him over will be good! Thanks


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## Babyshoes (Jul 1, 2016)

How rough is Gimil being, exactly? If he's not drawing blood and Eli is not pooing/peeing in fear, then he may well be ok as they will be establishing dominance and I'd expect it to settle down in time. If there's blood or fear poo/pee and squealing, then you should step in and separate them immediately, then reintroduce very, very slowly, with lots of scent swapping in between introductions. They may just never get along, but it's worth trying very slowly, over a matter of weeks & months. @Frolicking Ferrets has some good videos showing the different types of ferret fighting, to help you figure out what sort it is.

Regarding swapping food, you may find food from your hands is seen as a treat, so start by feeding little bits by hand, gradually moving your hands towards the bowl until he will take it from the bowl. It may take a number of meals to get him to recognise it as food. What cat food is he on? Some types are a lot worse than others - they're not even good for cats! If it's mostly meat with little or no carbs & sugar, he may actually be ok on it if you can't get him to switch.

Best to get all of them eating at least some raw, if you can. Whole prey like day-old chicks (they come frozen) are good for their digestion & teeth, but even just small pieces of raw meat will do them good. The best diet for ferrets is a whole prey, raw one, but that's not practical or convenient for everyone. I feed kibble as a base, with raw to supplement whenever possible.


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## Frolicking Ferrets (Mar 1, 2016)

You might find this thread helpful for the fighting issue. http://www.petforums.co.uk/threads/ferret-fights-that-need-separating.427340/ P.S I never got around to making the third video on how to separate them if they get far too rough...... Whoops. 
As your newbie is deaf, he is likely to be more vocal so if he makes a lot of noise I wouldn't be surprised, so don't worry too much about any noise he may make. As long as there isn't fur flying around, fear toileting, or bleeding due to bites, leave them too it as they'll sort it amongst themselves. If there is fur flying, fear poop or any bleeding, separate them and try introducing them the next day in a neutral environment, give them a bath together so they smell the same, treats they can have together can be a good way to get ferrets to get along too.

As for getting him off cat food and onto ferret food, mix them together and wean the cat food away slowly, or the better option would be to try him with raw meats if the cat food he eats is wet food.


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## Christine Vigus (Apr 10, 2017)

Thank you both so much for replying. Unfortunately I had to split Eli up from the others and have put him in with the female Arya. However the last few weeks she has started to act very strange by latching on to my ears and fingers (proper ferret bite lock) and pulling me, this seems to be getting worse as this evening she latched so bad and when i finally got her off she leaped at me out of her hutch at me! Could this be because she is unhappy now being with only one ferret? although that has been months now. Do you have any ideas on how i can help her or calm her down to the lovely girl she used to be.
Thanks


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## Frolicking Ferrets (Mar 1, 2016)

If she's entire, get her spayed as hormones can make jills very territorial of their housing. She may be giving you territorial bites. If not then I advice a trip to the vet as she may be in pain with something and trying to tell you she's hurting.


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## Christine Vigus (Apr 10, 2017)

Do here is an update I saw a video on YouTube and the female ferret was thinking the hand was a kit. So I let my girl bite my finger and she pulled me into her bed and let go then groomed my hand therefore I think she thinks I'm now her kit? Does anyone know about this kind of thing and how I can stop her doing it without her actually having kits?


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## Frolicking Ferrets (Mar 1, 2016)

If she doesn't have kits, is she entire and having a phantom?


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## Christine Vigus (Apr 10, 2017)

Yes she is but the vet has advised against spaying, she does seem to be nesting and the pulling of my fingers. But doesn't seem to be swelling up like my last female used to.


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## Frolicking Ferrets (Mar 1, 2016)

Get her implanted, it's safer than spaying has no negative side effects.


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