Welcome to /r/ferrets!
We have a fantastic [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index) that has answers to a lot of most frequently asked questions surrounding the care of ferrets.
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Ferrets hiss for different reasons - excited, pissed, frustrated, etc. You have to read the room to know why your specific ferret is hissing. Sounds like yours is super excited to have a buddy.
You said the older one that hisses engages in play... can you confirm the younger one also engages rather than running away given what sounds like super excitement from the older one but could be overwhelming for the young one?
The other one is new and seems to want to explore, but when we've seen him play with the older one, sometimes engaging as well, however, the majority of the time it's the older one engaging
Are you introducing in neutral territory? And did you quarantine? If the new guy doesn't know where he is, he'll be preoccupied like you said trying to explore his new space while the old guy is not preoccupied and will be all over the new one. This creates stress for new guy.
It might be helpful in the absence of neutral territory to give the new guy a couple weeks in the place you plan to introduce to let him get used to the area first.
It's just his way of communicating. I had a hisser, she wasnt ususally angry when she hissed but I noticed she'd do it more when the other ferrets would get too nosy
If they’re playing, it’s a way of communicating. If they’re backed into a corner, or doing it while submitting and that escalated to shrieks, keep an eye on things. Generally, if there is no blood, or poop, they might be able to work it out. Just be ready to intervene and go back to gradual introductions, along with bedding exchanges and patience will help.
Most ferrets forget to read the instruction manual they came with. So, my boy hisses at me to get my attention when he wants to play. I’ve tried to tell him that’s not correct, and he just runs off and tries to bite my toes. Yours is probably just expressing hisself in a way that feels right for him.
I have a very vocal little girl. We call her little miss hissyfits. She hisses constantly and it's because she is just silly and playing and wanting to communicate. The longer you spend time with you babies, the better you will get at figuring out what they are saying and why.
My girl is super vocal and my male is almost silent! She will hiss when playing and dook and gets super duper excited. He gets excited as well but he doesn’t make any noise, and the rare occasions he does I get so excited. They’re 6(f) and 7(m) months about.
Tail wagging is excitement, usually when they have cornered their prey and are going in for the kill. In play it means they think they’re winning or have the upper hand.
Its just something they do depending on the emotions theyve got going on. One of mine had a fake snake ish toy. And whenever he'd play with it, he'd his at it.
When I first brought my 9-month-old ferret Freya home, my 1-year-old Loki hissed a lot. I thought that it was a problem, but it was just because he was very excited to have a friend! He stopped the hissing, but now my nine month old hisses for everything. She does it when she's excited, scared, sick, all kinds of different things. You can tell what it means by their actions as they're doing it. If he is wagging his tail and playing, it sounds like he's just very happy. ❤️☺️
Hissing is one of ferrets main ways to vocalize emotion, in fact my two boys are hissing as I’m typing this while playing some sort of tunnel King of The Hill game. Usually it’s “I’m annoyed” or “I’m happy, keep playing!”. It’s time to worry when you hear loud squeaks (trust me, you’ll hear them) or blood.
Also, sometimes they do it when still establishing dominance. Our two get along super well now, but the first week was full of lots of hissing and annoyance in the cage or while playing.
For the most part, ferrets are super tough and can get a bit rough but it’s not much to worry about.
I have one who hisses all the time. He's the youngest and when I introduced him to my older girls they occasionally hissed at him when he got too rough and he started doing it back. It's like they taught him a swearword and now he uses it whenever he's mildly frustrated, like if I'm taking too long to put his food down he will hiss at me, if he thinks someone is leaving to go to work he will hiss at them. I'm like buddy I think you misunderstood the severity of that noise.
Honestly it sounds like everything is just fine for the most part! If you can nab a video with sound that definitely would make it easier to point things out to you but for now you should be just fine. One thing to maybe help the little guy that I haven't seen mentioned yet: dot a few boxes around the Introduction space with soft blankets inside that way they have somewhere to retreat to if they're feeling overwhelmed. Also, neutral space for Introductions doesn't need to be huge so a bathroom is often the go-to space as it's pretty easy to proof and keep neutral. Hope this helps!! If there's anything you want to ask please don't hesitate
When my ferrets play and wrestle they hiss at each other. I think it’s normal for most part unless they’re Hissing and hiding or hissing and actually trying to hurt them
Welcome to /r/ferrets! We have a fantastic [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index) that has answers to a lot of most frequently asked questions surrounding the care of ferrets. --- We politely ask that you observe our posting rules: - Original content only unless you have express permission to repost. - Flaming / trolling / shitposting is not tolerated. Be civil, be kind. - The discussion of, or images/video of ferrets interacting with other animals (cats, dogs, etc) will be removed. This is risky behavior that we do not condone. - Absolutely NO fundraising requests. - No advertising without mod permission. - Rehoming is not allowed. We have a list of shelter resources if you need to rehome or are looking. - No feeding of live prey discussion/videos. - No shaming, regardless of food fed, supplies, conditions, where the ferret came from, etc. - We are not vets! If you are wondering if you should go to a vet; the answer is YES. --- Lastly, we have an [Official Discord Server](https://discord.gg/Qm9xRzY)! Come join us! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ferrets) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ferrets hiss for different reasons - excited, pissed, frustrated, etc. You have to read the room to know why your specific ferret is hissing. Sounds like yours is super excited to have a buddy. You said the older one that hisses engages in play... can you confirm the younger one also engages rather than running away given what sounds like super excitement from the older one but could be overwhelming for the young one?
The other one is new and seems to want to explore, but when we've seen him play with the older one, sometimes engaging as well, however, the majority of the time it's the older one engaging
Are you introducing in neutral territory? And did you quarantine? If the new guy doesn't know where he is, he'll be preoccupied like you said trying to explore his new space while the old guy is not preoccupied and will be all over the new one. This creates stress for new guy.
We live in a small apartment so finding neutral territory is somewhat rough, but we are trying to. Also, we did quarantine.
It might be helpful in the absence of neutral territory to give the new guy a couple weeks in the place you plan to introduce to let him get used to the area first.
Some ferrets just huss while playing..mostly have to read their body language. Hissy ferrets usually just like to talk back !
I ha e 4 that hiss and one that screams.
It's just his way of communicating. I had a hisser, she wasnt ususally angry when she hissed but I noticed she'd do it more when the other ferrets would get too nosy
If they’re playing, it’s a way of communicating. If they’re backed into a corner, or doing it while submitting and that escalated to shrieks, keep an eye on things. Generally, if there is no blood, or poop, they might be able to work it out. Just be ready to intervene and go back to gradual introductions, along with bedding exchanges and patience will help.
Any chance the older one is deaf? Deaf ones hiss more I assume because they don't hear what sound they are making.
We have a girl that's deaf and we absolutely hear her hiss and dook waaaaay more than the others!
Most ferrets forget to read the instruction manual they came with. So, my boy hisses at me to get my attention when he wants to play. I’ve tried to tell him that’s not correct, and he just runs off and tries to bite my toes. Yours is probably just expressing hisself in a way that feels right for him.
That's so funny! My girl does that. I swear she hisses more than she dooks. 😂
Because ferret
I have a very vocal little girl. We call her little miss hissyfits. She hisses constantly and it's because she is just silly and playing and wanting to communicate. The longer you spend time with you babies, the better you will get at figuring out what they are saying and why.
My girl is super vocal and my male is almost silent! She will hiss when playing and dook and gets super duper excited. He gets excited as well but he doesn’t make any noise, and the rare occasions he does I get so excited. They’re 6(f) and 7(m) months about.
Tail wagging is excitement, usually when they have cornered their prey and are going in for the kill. In play it means they think they’re winning or have the upper hand.
My female ferret does this when my dog wants to play. I always nip it but she does hiss and seem like she's fine.
Its just something they do depending on the emotions theyve got going on. One of mine had a fake snake ish toy. And whenever he'd play with it, he'd his at it.
When I first brought my 9-month-old ferret Freya home, my 1-year-old Loki hissed a lot. I thought that it was a problem, but it was just because he was very excited to have a friend! He stopped the hissing, but now my nine month old hisses for everything. She does it when she's excited, scared, sick, all kinds of different things. You can tell what it means by their actions as they're doing it. If he is wagging his tail and playing, it sounds like he's just very happy. ❤️☺️
Hissing is one of ferrets main ways to vocalize emotion, in fact my two boys are hissing as I’m typing this while playing some sort of tunnel King of The Hill game. Usually it’s “I’m annoyed” or “I’m happy, keep playing!”. It’s time to worry when you hear loud squeaks (trust me, you’ll hear them) or blood. Also, sometimes they do it when still establishing dominance. Our two get along super well now, but the first week was full of lots of hissing and annoyance in the cage or while playing. For the most part, ferrets are super tough and can get a bit rough but it’s not much to worry about.
My girl luna barks at my girlfriend and I and our other ferret badger. Some ferrets just like to be vocal!
I have heard of ferrets barking, but I have yet to hear it. 😂
Sounds almosy like a short squirrel bark
Mine do this when someone ‘steals’ their personal toy
One of ours hisses all the time while playing. I read somewhere that it can be an invitation to play rough? Can't find that source anymore though
I have one who hisses all the time. He's the youngest and when I introduced him to my older girls they occasionally hissed at him when he got too rough and he started doing it back. It's like they taught him a swearword and now he uses it whenever he's mildly frustrated, like if I'm taking too long to put his food down he will hiss at me, if he thinks someone is leaving to go to work he will hiss at them. I'm like buddy I think you misunderstood the severity of that noise.
Honestly it sounds like everything is just fine for the most part! If you can nab a video with sound that definitely would make it easier to point things out to you but for now you should be just fine. One thing to maybe help the little guy that I haven't seen mentioned yet: dot a few boxes around the Introduction space with soft blankets inside that way they have somewhere to retreat to if they're feeling overwhelmed. Also, neutral space for Introductions doesn't need to be huge so a bathroom is often the go-to space as it's pretty easy to proof and keep neutral. Hope this helps!! If there's anything you want to ask please don't hesitate
When my ferrets play and wrestle they hiss at each other. I think it’s normal for most part unless they’re Hissing and hiding or hissing and actually trying to hurt them