The never did end up living together.
I kept trying for a little while after I stopped posting, but after 2-3 months I never got out of neutral ground, so I gave up. I also moved across the country, so my life was to chaotic to focus on intros anyway.
Lately I've been thinking it's time to try again.
Summary of the situation:
I have two spayed girls. Crass is a fat dumbo agouti who has lived alone her whole life, and is now about 27 months, but still very energetic. Paya is a sweet little beige hoodie, I don't know as much about her age and history, but the girl I got her from said she came from a hoarding situation, and I've had her age estimated at about 18 months.
When I tried intros before Crass was nothing but a bully, she left gashes on Paya a few times, and even bit me once when I grabbed her mid-lunge. Crass would get huffy and poofy at Paya, side stepping and generally causing trouble. Paya's body language is more subtle and much more difficult for me to read, but she would usually avoid Crass, and hunch up in a corner somewhere.
They have not met face to face since this summer. They have been living in the same room since April, but Crass will still get huffy if their cages or carriers are next to each other. They now live in a Feisty Ferret that has been split in two, but just yesterday morning Crass was huffing and puffing at Paya through the ceiling/floor (Paya was on the floor in a corner, and Crass was in her hammock that is right below that corner, huffing and puffing and scrabbling at the ceiling and bars. Paya was more calm, just sniffing with her nose poking through the bars).
I've been swapping cages for about a week now (possibly more, the days kind of blur together) and I'm wondering how long I need to continue before moving to the next step. When I put Crass in Paya's cage she stomps around kicking and shoving things, acting very belligerent. When I put her back in her own cage (after Paya has been there) she stomps around a little, but not nearly as aggressively. When I put Paya in either cage, she cautiously explores, checking every hiding place like something might jump out at her. The other thing that I've noticed is that when they're in opposite cages they'll sleep in the other's favorite hammock (as in, when they are each in their own half, Paya lives in the cube and Crass live in the bunk bed, but when I swap, Crass sleeps in Paya's cube, and Paya sleeps in Crass's bunk bed).
