[kym]

I heard on the radio this morning that if you don't spay your lady ferret that they will die early. Is that true?

 

[Apollopuppy]

Yes! Female ferrets if not bred will die of estrogen toxicity and anemia.

 

[Apollopuppy]

Oh! and in order to get the female to ovulate, the male has to drag the female around by the neck and bang her into things, cave man style. Ferrets are waaayyyyy weird when it comes to breeding.

i am trying to think of why it is that ferrets must be spayed or bred in order to not die, but I can't remember off the top of my head. I'll go ask my friend who is a ferret breeder and then I'll be able to give you a more direct reason as to 'why' they must be bred.

Oh....and what were 'they' talking about on the radio, like how did this come up? Lol, seems kinda random for a radio show.

 

[kym]

They were actually talking about random facts, like 9 pennies equal 1 ounce. Stuff like that, and the ferret thing was a random fact. The cohost didn't believe it, so I thought I'd ask the resident specialist Thanks!!

 

[jzgrlduff]

Oh! and in order to get the female to ovulate, the male has to drag the female around by the neck and bang her into things, cave man style.

Are you kidding me?!
So are yours spayed? What happens if males aren't neutered?

 

[Apollopuppy]

All of mine are spayed and neutered.

If an uneutered male is allowed near females (spayed or not) or other males (neutered or not) they will become SUPER agressive, to the point of almost killing the other male ferrets.

Now, petstore ferrets are all altered at very young ages. This is NOT good, causes alot of problems. One day sam and I might get ferrets from a breeder, so they would be spayed and neutered upon reaching sexual maturity at 6 months of age. Unaltered ferrets STINK, people think its their anal scent glands that stink, but really its them not being altered. Altered ferrets skin doesn't produce stinky oils. Ferrets are different from skunks cuz their anal scent glands 'poof' like a fart lol, they don't spray like skunks do. FYI- all my guys are descented as well, meaning their anal scent glands are removed

I emailed my friend ann, shes a breeder, I'll be able to give you a more detailed answer when she emails me back. Ferrets are weird little creatures. Although I think the girls are just making it up. "Have sex with me or i'll die!" riiigghhhtttt

lol-but no seriously its true

 

[jzgrlduff]

Weeeeeeeeeeird! ;D

 

[Apollopuppy]

Yeah, they sure are weird little dudes but sooooo cute as babies. Look:

This is my friend Ann's website:

http://www.hillcrestferrets.com/

WARNING: The follow pics are of adorable 5 week old ferrets, BUT these little guys eat a natural diet so there a few pics of chicks that they are snacking on BUT you really can't tell they are chicks (no faces or heads) and there isn't any blood or guts, so if you don't mind the chicks there are some ADORABLE pics of babies in here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcNWLJq5aMom

 

[kym]

Very cool pics, who would have thought that those little guys were so odd. I'll bet most people who get them at a pet store have no idea.

 

[Apollopuppy]

Ferrets are certainly unique and interesting animals did you know that:

They can flatten their ribcage to squeeze under doors and what not.
That their brain imprints on a food and after the first six months a ferret will not recognize anything else as food
Ferrets (and rabbits?) are the only animal that can catch or transmit the human flu
Ferrets have been domesticated for 2.500 years
Ferrets were used by airlines to run cables through tight spaces on airplanes
The blackfooted ferret (endangered) is the only ferret in north america

 

[Apollopuppy]

Here are some more fun ferret facts:

http://dragonsinger.com/rhadluck/

 

[kym]

Cool, I had absolutely no idea, I have so much more respect for the little critters!

 

[Apollopuppy]

Here ya go Kym. Ann responded quickly she said:

"Well, it's somewhat true. What happens is they never go out of season, so the hormones never go down, and they can develop anemia. Regardless of whether or not they develop those problems, they do tend to lose condition, weight, etc.

You need to spay them or take them out of season, which can be easily done with a hormone shot. I use HcG to take them out when necessary. But offhand, can't remember the dosage. My boy falsed them all this year for me. You do want to do something, whether it is breed them, find a v-hob to false them, give them a shot, or spay them. "

 

[Apollopuppy]

I believe a v-hob is a hob that mates with the female but isn't able to get them pregnant

BTW- Whole ferrets males are called hobs, females are jills. Altered males are gibs, altered females are sprites. Babies are kits.

 

[zoesmom]

Wow, interesting facts about ferrets..
the 2 day old ferrets are about the size of the person's thumbs!!

What's all the initials before the ferrets' names?

thanks for sharing

 

[Apollopuppy]

HCF stands for the breeder: hillcrest ferrets. Like dogs, ferrets bred by private breeders have "title names"

And yes, the babies are VERY tiny when born, but they grow so fast. OMG they're so cute!

 

[Apollopuppy]

oh! Forgot to mention. Those babies look tiny now, but these privately bred, later alter, raw fed ferrets will get up to SIX pounds when grown!!! Thats twice the size of my largest 'pet store bred' ferret, lugnut!

 

[kym]

Here ya go Kym. Ann responded quickly she said:

"Well, it's somewhat true. What happens is they never go out of season, so the hormones never go down, and they can develop anemia. Regardless of whether or not they develop those problems, they do tend to lose condition, weight, etc.

You need to spay them or take them out of season, which can be easily done with a hormone shot. I use HcG to take them out when necessary. But offhand, can't remember the dosage. My boy falsed them all this year for me. You do want to do something, whether it is breed them, find a v-hob to false them, give them a shot, or spay them. "

thank you so much, looks like that dj was wrong!

 

[Apollopuppy]

But just cuz I'm a rescue advocate I thought i'd also post pics of some of the wonderful sweeties that had a home but lost it:

http://www.gcfa.com/ShelterFerrets/shelter_ferrets.htm

 

[Apollopuppy]

thank you so much, looks like that dj was wrong!

Well yes and no. Ferrets can become very sick and many often die if not bred. But I don't think they ALWAYS die, but they do get REALLY sick