Can two female ferrets live together?
Though ferrets are social creatures and can live in groups. They take less time to introduce each other when opposite gender (3-14 days) but more time is required if both are female ferrets like months. Because female ferrets are bossy and take time and space to interact.
Can two female ferrets live together?
Ferrets are non-traditional pets; it’s not so easy to keep them together. There are some facts you should be known before doing this adventure. Fighting for dominance is normal when introducing ferrets to each other.
So, you should be careful until they accept each other. Otherwise, you may see the severe warfare and even lose one of them from fighting, biting and snitching.
Real facts about ferret
Since, once you succeeded to develop the relationship between the female ferrets, they will be great with you and your kids. They have a human-like recognition as they want full attention, playtime and can live on their own as being a social creature.
If you cannot give maximum time to the ferret then keep those in pair but you have to remember that bonding between them will take time from days to months, you must have to wait.
Never let your ferrets unmonitored until they are sleeping together if they are calm to each other then they will be friends forever. No worries!
It’s better to keep them in a pair or group as neutered males and females ferrets. You have to keep in mind that if one of the ferrets from pair dies, then the other will be sad and alone so give them extra care and time.
The most difficult task is to introduce a new ferret to the existing group because some may reject it. The other fact is they can get along with dogs and cats but should never leave unsupervised, rabbits and rodents are not much interested in ferrets so better to keep them away.
How to start an introduction among two ferrets?
If you don’t want to buy a pair and need no kits then you must have two females to play around but as they are not much familiar to each other and less attractive you need to go through an introductory period. Follow these methods to develop an interaction between them and playmates.
- Take your ferret to the vet
Your pet should be disease-free though sometimes they cause you flue because of their stinky aroma. Let the vet examine if your ferret is healthy or not then give proper medication to make them. In case you have a pair of them then ask the vet to give medicine to make sure ferret won’t breed.
- Ferrets are territorial animals
They usually don’t like trespassing each other before introduction or attraction to each other. So you should place the one ferret’s cage in another room to keep them separate.
- Do not let them hang out together
Let the one explore your home when the other one is in the cage and don’t let them see each other in the early process of introduction. One by one formula is safe for both female ferrets to explore and wandering about.
- Let them sleep in each other’s cage
After a week or two swap their bedding so they will smell the scent of other ferret and will be familiar to the new scent it will alarm them. But do not change their food dishes, toys and hammocks etc.
- Come along both ferrets on a neutral territory
Take them to the kitchen to introduce them to each other so they get to know there is also someone else. Do not place them on the carpet they may urinate when introduced.
- Female ferrets are bossy
Hold in your hand each ferret to smell each other but don’t let them sniff and stretch to bite each other. If they don’t seem like each other than place them back in the cage.
Socializing the two ferrets
When they have seen each other and recognize the existence of another ferret in the home then you should let them interact directly. As the above procedure was necessary because they are of extreme temper and can kill if unknown to each other.
- Let them wrestle
Leave both of them on the floor and let them meet, play or wrestle together as they love to chase each other. You may think like they are aggressive to each other but when they slowly bite each other that means they start liking. They can also urinate on the floor to mark the territory not to trespass.
- Spray their necks with Ferretone
Do not leave them alone and unsupervised if you think they are biting each other at the same spot and they bleed then spray some Ferretone to their necks. This oil will taste and smell good to them they won’t bite roughly.
- Extreme aggression and violent behaviour
Their skin is thick enough to bite from neck and cannot cause any issue until they get extreme, separate them. If it seems the one is not leaving the other’s neck or the other one is scared or shrinking and running here and there.
Running playfully around the home is better to run in afraid as they love to chase. Pick one of them that are scared then let it back down on the floor a minute later.
- Pretend a mother
Scruff the ferret’s neck and hold on to the skin in your fingers and lift it gently as the mother corrects them by hissing and grabbing when they bite each other. You can also shake them gently with the love they can even bite you but doesn’t hurt. It will settle down in your hands and will become easy to control.
- Playtime duration must not be exceeded
If they are going well with each other and are playful then don’t need to separate them for thirty minutes then put them back to their cages. Even they are interacted enough don’t place them in the same cage.
Developing the relationship between two ferrets to live together
There are some helpful tips to develop a relationship between two ferrets to live together. You can follow the steps below:
- Bath them together
As they are the same creatures and have the same smell, bath them together if they won’t like the water they can bond over the bathing together. They may be once mad at you but they will be made to each other like playful that will bring them close.
- Place the ferret cages next to each other
After two weeks place their cages next to each other, where they will get smell and sight of each other and become familiar. The distance between the cages must be at least 6 inches.
- Move them together in a cage
When they are calm and not aggressive to each other then you can put them in one cage but the cage should be larger than the existing one. As if the bond is forming and they started liking each other then there is no issue of keeping them together.
- Do not put unneutered male among them
Never put an unneutered male ferret with these female ferrets otherwise he will become territorial and can harm the ferrets because of the heat it has.
- Females ferrets die when not mate
The female’s ferret can die due to a lack of sex as they reach sexual maturity at the age of 4-6 months. When once they go into heat they stay like this until they breed. Because of the high doses of estrogen can lead them to death due to aplastic anemia over time. But fortunately, a veterinarian can bring out the heat of ferret to not breed.
Grouping Ferrets
Ferret’s relationship can take days or months depending on their grouping or pairing. Female ferrets are less likely to each other that are why they take more time to interact or being harmless to each other.
Be patient while this procedure otherwise you may be lost one of them let them adjust first. Don’t forget if you are buying more than two ferrets then place them according to their natural grouping at a young age. Ferrets and hamsters can not live together.
It rarely happens that a ferret does not want to be social with other ferrets but you can keep them in different cages until they allow each other to interact or playmate. Continue to give them 30-minute playtime or don’t force them to stick together.
Conclusion
Ferrets are fluffy animals and can get anywhere even the place of one inch. They are cute, adorable, friendly, social and playful. When you feel them be aggressive just pick them up and scruff the neck and scold him loud not to bite but gently.
Behave them like the mother treats their kits, as they slip into a deep sleep and feel like the dead. It’s better to play with female ferrets from time to time so they attract to your affection.
This article dedicated to our twitter follower Steve Cooper, who asked us can two female ferrets live together or not. You can also ask any question about the ferret life by leaving a message in below comment box.
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