I have a year old ferret. Is it alright to put a new ferret in the cage with him?

Answer 1

Once you quarantine the other ferret for about 2 weeks, then you can introduce them. Don't be scared, but they play really aggressively! When I introduced mine, the older one dragged the kit around by the head, while the kit screamed the whole time. This is NORMAL behavior. That is how they interact, to show dominance. Do not separate them unless you actually see blood.

This sounds really cold, but every reference I have read said this was how you do it. It took about a week to really get mine used to each other. I let them spend time together, then moved the new one to a different cage or carrier to sleep. After several days, they were like old pals. Now they are inseparable.

Answer 2

Wow you have already received some very knoledgeable responses right off the bat.

I just want to add that all animals react differently in socialization and of course no matter what you should keep an eye on them when they are together in the beginning. They do play rough, but watch for blood.

Also watch their behavior over the days. I had ferrets in the past that have not been able to get along with each other. One female just didn't want to play as much as the male did and she became anxious and stopped eating so I had to return her to the shelter I adopted her from.

Later I had adopted another teensy little female on a trial basis and she beat the crap out of my boy! He was so scared of her that he would whimper if she got near him. Even though she was only at my house for a day, and I seperated them once she had scratched near his eye, it scared him enough that it took him a while to trust other ferrets again. Other ferrets would approach him and he'd go and hide or curl up on the corner whimpering.

Answer 3

Tame ferrets can be very social unlike their wild cousins but sometimes if a ferret has never been around other ferrets there can be problems. From the sound of your question you either have a seperate cage for the other ferret or you haven't bought it yet. I'd suggest giving them a supervised play time together. Or if you haven't bought it yet taking the ferret with you to the pet store to help you select your new pet. After all its going to be his new bunk mate. Just keep in mind the ferrets play rough woth each other your pet may give you gentle play bites but he's going to be a bit rougher with someone his own size. :)

Answer 4

I wouldnt see any problem, ferrets are social animals. My grandma used to have a ferret that was always really lazy, then when we got him a friend he was more energetic and more playful.

Answer 5

Please, please quarantine the new one! Baby ferrets are often carriers of something called ECE (aka "Green Slime Disease"). They won't show signs of it but they can pass it on to older ferrets and it really takes a toll on them. I made this very mistake once. Also, you should have the ferret tested for ADV. It's a very deadly disease and some ferrets are carriers without showing symptoms.
ECE info:
http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/med/green.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ece.htm
ADV info:
http://www.ferret-universe.com/health/adv.html
http://www.geocities.com/wolfysluv/adv-straight.html