From:
"US7"
Date: 2005-09-16 05:42:52 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] RE: Bailey''s gone...
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <9363478.1126850350442.JavaMail.nobody@magnesium.smartgroups.com>
I have noticed something about this kind of behaviour. Sid, one of my guys with
neurological damage, from a bacterial infection in the ear, is aggressive to any new
ferrets, and especially aggressive to a ferret my wife and I took in who was middle-
aged (who is female - Sid is male). It doesn't help that when Sid grabs this ferret,
she cries and squeals like she's being killed. Sid never draws blood. He grabs these
guys by the scruff of the neck and shakes them in the same way that a ferret might
shake a mouse to kill it. I had always tried to figure out why, and just chalked it up
to Sid protecting his place in the business, in the same way that the other ferrets
picked on him when he was the new guy, until they accepted him. But then one day I
noticed that Sid's tail would wag quickly during these attacks, as a ferret's tail wags
when they are in distress or afraid.
It seems that Sid, for whatever reason, is afraid of these new guys. I don't know if
it's because of the neurological damage, or for possibly normal reasons, but I
started to understand his behaviour a bit better. We used to give Sid cage time-outs
when he was aggressive, but when we started seeing this, we starting picking him
up and comforting him, trying to make him feel safe. It seems to work better, and
while he still goes after these "new guys" (they've been here for months), he seems
to get along with them for stretches, and sometimes even sleeps with them. Once
he wakes up, however, all bets are off.
I have also noticed that these "attacks" happen where my guys sleep, either in their
cages, or in places around the house where they routinely nap, usually in places
where they are covered up or enclosed.
Roary
Albuquerque, NM
blog - http://ferretphilosophy.blogspot.com/
---------- Original Message ----------
:I have the same problem here. Okojyo attacks any rescued ferrets we bring
:home.