Ferrets: Playing or Fighting? How to Tell the Difference

Рет қаралды 4,317

Күн бұрын

Playing: May have slightly poofy tail if very excited, but may have no poof.
Fighting: Tails at maximum poof.
Playing: Both ferrets are engaged & taking turns. Even in rough play, the movements are (relatively) slow and gentle.
Fighting: One ferret may try to run away but be unable to. Movements are very fast & violent.
Playing: Nobody poops
Fighting: Somebody poops
00:00 - Jasper & Rusty Playing
01:01 - Jasper & Opal Playing
02:06 - Opal & Amber Fighting
02:28 - Onyx, Jasper, & Opal Snuggling
02:57 - Notes
We adopted Opal and Onyx in May 2017, and then rescued Jasper in March 2019. Opal was very violent towards Jasper at first, but they have become best friends. We adopted Amber & Rusty in October 2020. Onyx and Jasper accepted them pretty quickly, but Opal still has not. We've swapped them between cages, and let the newbies play in the same spaces as Opal (at different times), so they're definitely accustomed to each others' smell. But Opal is still very violent towards the newbies, even five months later. I have to wonder if it's because I never let her fight with them the way she did with Jasper (briefly, I always broke it up asap.) I have read that ferrets need to establish a pecking order, but I hate seeing them fight! And Opal is SO MEAN! We will only try this a couple more times at most, in the hopes that Opal gets over herself. But if not, we'll have to continue keeping them separated permanently. :(

Пікірлер: 29

@sloth14 2 жыл бұрын

This video has calmed me down a lot more!! My 2 boys play a bit too rough, to the point they've both made each other get scabby necks. I do separate/time out/etc... But it's frustrating because I know once they've calmed down, they're snuggling up!!! After watching this, it's become a lot easier to tell the difference. I now know that most of the times I've been separating them, the play time hasn't been rough. Some of the sounds they make, especially when biting each others necks, sound so scary. It's my first time owning them, so I'm definitely going to be watching more of these videos. I like how you dive straight in and you don't read off as if you've just found a thesaurus 😂😂

@kwsapphire 2 жыл бұрын

I know exactly how you feel! I'd be worried and upset if my wezuls were breaking the skin on each other too. I wish I could make Opal understand that she'd LOVE Amber & Rusty if she'd just give them a chance!

@graemehunt6172 3 жыл бұрын

Some lovely ferrets there, such big chonky boys! Took about three months for my boys to accept my new jill. About a year later it took the boys about the 2 months to accept a new hob. Though it took an additional 4 months before the jill would accept the new hob. I found keeping their cages next to each other (while they were separate) helped. That way they could see/smell each other. Also swapping blankets from one cage to another helped too. I found lots of short introduction with plenty of distractions (ie their toys etc) was helpful in getting them used to each other. She still fights him occasionally and they're rough with each other daily, but then they curl up together in the cage later, whatever their disagreement was, now forgotten. Hope this helps anyone who might be having trouble with ferret introductions.

@kwsapphire 3 жыл бұрын

We have tried those tactics as well! Alas, they did not seem to work with Opal and our new babies. They are definitely accustomed to each others' smell, and Opal will still attack the babies, even if there are toys and treats as distractions! Now, when Opal and Amber will try to claw at each other through the bars of their cages. Opal will bite the bars and tug on them, dooking aggressively all the while. I'm afraid they're never going to accept each other at this point. :(

@sewbuttns 2 жыл бұрын

We did the same thing letting them get close enough to smell each others scent and then pulling them away if a fight broke out. What happened in our case is one of our lower ranking ferrets took a liking to the newbie for some reason and would cuddle with her when we would put them together, and after that the alpha started calming down around her. I think maybe his scent being on her made the alpha see her as part of the group.

@kwsapphire 2 жыл бұрын

I'm glad it worked out!

@artemisiya1549 2 жыл бұрын

I’m terribly notorious for not sitting through these things. But that was a really good quick video. Sometimes it’s hard to determine fighting vs playing! I think that will help a new owner a lot! Also your business has some of the cutest names just thought you should know ❤️

@kwsapphire 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!

@ferrantitunggaldewi551 2 жыл бұрын

I landed on your video to understand the fight between my established ferret (Floki - 5 years old, male) & new baby ferret (Motchi - 3 months, female). It was a chaos in the first 3 days when my bf and I tried to introduce & let them play in a room. Their tails poofed and they will poop while running & farting :( The little girl is too playful & energetic for 5 y/o ferret and he doesn't like when she jumped onto his back & bite. Now it's day 7, thankfully they are getting along very well! But I don't put them in the same cage yet. What I did: (1) Positive reinforcement - hold both of them together, let them sniff at each other calmly & give them snacks at the same time (need 2 people) before putting them down on the floor (2) Protection with the owner whom they trust - get your used clothes (2-3 clothes) on the floor, sometimes put it on top of one ferret as a protection layer from the attack & give them a comfort of protection from the owner If they fight, scruff both of them & put side by side with a loud " No" for 5 seconds. Put them back of the floor while facing each other. If they still struggling, don't let go either both. if they are calm, grab 1 clothes and put on top of one ferret. They will soon (hopefully) play. Repeat the same way when they start to be rough. Maybe after 2 times of fight/fright poop, bring them back to cage as a time out & rest so that they are not stressful. Try again the next day.

@kwsapphire 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! We did put ferretone on Rusty's scruff once, and Opal spent five minutes licking it off. Rusty sat there perfectly still, he's such a sweet boy. But then without Rusty moving at all, Opal just flipped out and attacked him. She was done with the ferretone, I guess. Poor Rusty boy. We will try more positive reinforcement though, and see where we can get with that!

@BeyondEcho95 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, this is exactly what I needed. My little boy JUST got a new friend since the chihuahua just can't keep up with him anymore 🙁 and I know ferrets typically play rough, but there wasn't a good example on what *not* playing looks like. Thank you again!

@kwsapphire 2 жыл бұрын

You're very welcome, I'm glad I could help! ^_^

@royalketch8160 2 жыл бұрын

I have a little boy and I got him a little girl buddy, they’re about the same age but I get scared because I have no idea if they’re fighting or playing and it’s scaring me. They would grab on each other’s neck and shake.

@kwsapphire 2 жыл бұрын

That's normal play behavior, as long as the actions arent super frantic, they're both taking turns, nobody is clearly trying to just get away, and nobody poops. Poop is a sure indicator that they're fighting. If there is no poop, they could just be playing rough.

@Queenofdarkness24 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this! I was getting worried because I have an adult boy (about 2 years old) and I just rescued a baby boy (about 4 months old) and the adult always roughs the baby up. I’m just worried he will hurt the baby. But it looks similar to ur ferrets playing. However, the adult sometimes hisses. Is that something yours do too?

@kwsapphire 2 жыл бұрын

Yes! The hissing noise is a friendly warning that says "please don't do that, I didn't like that." Not a threatening noise, just communication that helps them set boundaries.

@kwsapphire 2 жыл бұрын

Here's a video of Rusty and Amber. At about the 1:36 mark they're playing and Amber hisses a couple times. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/etWeibKpyLvNfoE.html

@magalissalermo27 2 жыл бұрын

Jajjjjj son tremendos 😜😂😂me encantan jajjjjjj q bellezas 😘😘😘❤️❤️❤️

@imzadi83fanvids7 3 жыл бұрын

Very informative, thank you. Have you tried scent swapping? Like putting used bedding in each other's cages, or putting a little dirty litter in each other's boxes? Or since Opal is blind putting a collar with a bell on the other ferrets so she never feels like she's being snuck up on?

@kwsapphire 3 жыл бұрын

We definitely have done a lot of scent swapping. They have had bedding swapped, litter boxes swapped, and even flat out been swapped between cages. They also spend time in all the same spaces (out in the ferret room, in our office, etc.) but not at the same time. And as you can see from the video, it's not about Opal being snuck-upon. She attacked Amber first. I also put Ferretone all over rusty's head and neck, and let Opal lick it off. Which she did for several minutes, and Rusty sat very still and let her do it. And then out of nowhere, Opal attacked Rusty violently. Rusty hadn't even twitched, she just decided she was done with the Ferretone, and it was time to maul Rusty. :(

@usmc72409 Жыл бұрын

Dominance play can seem rough but they have much thicker skin then us, dogs and cats.

@kwsapphire Жыл бұрын

Very true! However if we let Amber and Opal go at it any longer, they will draw blood. I just can't bring myself to subject Amber and Rusty to the abuse.

@usmc72409 Жыл бұрын

@@kwsapphire i agree. I was talking about the play side of it not dominance fighting. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.

@evannieserrano7836 3 жыл бұрын

How did u get them accustom to each other?

@kwsapphire 3 жыл бұрын

For Opal, Amber, & Rusty.... unfortunately I still haven't! I have to let them play in separate rooms, or keep either Opal or Amber & Rusty in one of the cages while the other is out to play. :( At this point Amber gets really upset every time she sees, smells, or thinks she might have access to Opal, and starts dooking in an aggitated manner. It's like she's trying to pick a fight, even though she'd get her butt kicked. Opal was aggressive towards Jasper when we first got him, but she didn't attack him EVERY time she saw him, and she eventually came to love him. But she has been much more aggressive towards Amber and Rusty, every time she sees them. I am afraid that perhaps Opal is too set in her ways, or maybe because she's blind, that she might not ever accept Amber and Rusty as part of the pack.

@morganthompson7539 Жыл бұрын

Did you ever get them to get along?

@kwsapphire Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately not! I fear I have lost all hope that Opal will ever accept Amber and Rusty. :(

@morganthompson7539 Жыл бұрын

@@kwsapphire I’m so sorry to hear that. I have adopted a female that is about two years old. I’m trying to bond her and my two-year-old. They were both houses separately since they were little. I started out small by letting them see each other and sniff each other with a cage between the two of them or playpen between the two of them just in the past couple of days I have allowed them to actually interact with each other, and I noticed the first time the female was displaying dominant behavior, such as jumping on his back and biting the neck but she wasn’t really rocking him. She wasn’t being aggressive with it. But I have noticed my boy has been like kind of running away from her so to speak. I can’t tell if he’s running to play or if he’s just getting annoyed, trying to get away from her. But I think their first two interactions have been really good, considering no aggression nor fighting. I just wish I knew when the dominance behavior will go away. And wondering when, and if I will ever feel comfortable, allowing them to be caged together. Thank you for the update!

@kwsapphire Жыл бұрын

Good luck! I will keep my fingers crossed for you that they become best friends! :)