Agressive ferret noise?

Question

I just got a 4 month old ferret last week to join my 4 year old ferret. Overall, they get along great, however, sometimes the younger (larger) one, and possibly the older one as well, will make this odd chirp, like an angry squirrel, which I have never heard a ferret make before. This does not occur during playtime and is not their normal happy or playful vocalization. It only occurs when the two are near each other but not playing, say, climbing into a hammock together. It is not really a hiss. It doesn't sound friendly, but I could be wrong.

What does this mean? Is it agressive/a dominance thing? Should I be trying to correct it?

Answer 1

that sounds dominant, i think they're maybe just trying to settle who's boss.

Answer 2

That's the part of the weasel war dance. Which is a close cousin. They jump around and make that noise.

Don't worry, they'll work it out.

You may want to watch them though.

Eik, if you google 'how to breed a ferret'

It's not a pleasant thing...

Because what the male does is grab a hold of the female's neck and she screams and all, but he just wants to make little ferrets (:

It's no romance.

Answer 3

this is a dominent thing and i think you should leave it alone. It is up to the animals to when they want to stop...

Answer 4

It is an aggression thing. I had the same problem with my fuzzies. I was told to wait it out, that, like dogs, they would find their natural heirarchy on their own. In my case this was not true. The younger ferret wanted to play with the older one, and the older one would just begin attacking her. At first it was just the angry chirps, but it escalated. I though they were wrestling, until the older one got hold of her neck and pinned her down until she started 'screaming' (not a pleasant thing to here). I had to seperate them. They now have seperate cages and seperate play schedules. Even 4 years later, the older one will still attack if he is within reaching her.

My advice is to keep an eye on them. If they are going to get in a fight you need to be there to protect the little one.

If things heat up, seperate them. Its all you can really do.

Answer 5

My first 2 did this when I got my second one. It was a dominence thing. Do not stop them or it will continue longer. Oddly enough they didn't do it when I got my third because he is a baby and my 10 1/2 month old is alpha female over my 2 year old girl. The 10 1/2 month old is bigger than the 2 year old girl. The baby he is pretty much as big as my alpha female now.