ferrets

death stretch · ferrets

my nephew asked me if i knew any one with a male ferret i asked him why and he sead his 3 bitches are in season and if they dont breed they will catch some kind of genital disease and die i seid i never heard that before and he seid he lost 2 ferrets lst year to the same disease and a vet told him they have to breed i have heard quite a few years ago that the male ferret will mate with new born dose any one know of any of this

WOLF

I'm no expert but, I have heard of this, its something to do with oestragen building up the the jills that can kill em, as far as the hob and the kits go I think they should be in seperate hutches, I dont think he would try and give em one but might kill them.

furdy

Theu dont always die but it is quite likley they will become quite unwell.

He can either mate them and have kits, mate them to a vasectemised hob to bring them out of season or take them to the vet who can give them a jab to bring them out.

The permenant solution is to have them speyed.

If he has kits I wouldnt mind a couple DS. Think squirrel killer has somer for me later this year but would be happy with another two.

confused

Aye Furdy is right, the jill /bitch will stay in season which means her vulva is constantly enlarged increasing the risk of infection, also she will be conctantly producing high levels of estrogen which causes problems in the bone marrow and also makes her suffer from anemia, i've never heard of the hob/dog mateing with new born ? but he will certainly eat them or upset the jill enough for her eat them, hope this helps a wee bit ,i dont have ferrets at the moment but i have had them for most of my life so i ken a wee bit about them.

jultaylor1972

When jills are in season their vulva swells and eventually drags on the bottom of the hutch which is a great place for infection to start. They also produce massive amounts of oestrogen which can eventually cause severe problems - sometimes death. It is best practice to bring jills out of season when they come in every year. If your nephew doesnt want his jills to have kits then he will have to find someone who has a vasectomised hob a hoblet (Not castrated) who will mate with the jills thus bringing them out of season. I should point out that leaving a hob in with three jills to bring them out of season should be avoided as the hob can die through exhaustion. A seperate hutch should be used and each jill put in overnight and then taken out in the morning with a days rest for the hob, then the other jills put in and the same process again. The stimulation of the mating will bring them out of season. If he wants to have kits then its the same process only using a full hob. Its no good putting a hoble in (Castrated) as they wont do anything as they have nowt! Its easy to see when jills are coming out of season or are pregnant - their vulva goes back to a normal size. Hope this all helps.

Tyla

Thats a bit worrying, my hoblet (never heard that term before!) lives in with my three jills all year round. Should i seperate them? i dont want him shagging himself to death!

jultaylor1972

Well, if it was me - I would

but some people leave them together all year round with no issues. My mates ferret died two years ago by being left with three jills.

fish

i used to keep em together ,but when the hob was hastling the jills too much i would take him out till hthe jills werent in season.

eostoegen(sp?) without medical intervention, a jill can die of aplastic anemia. It is possible to use a vasectomised male to take a female out of heat.
,alternatively a trip to the vets and they will give her the jill jab for about a tenner.

fish

by the way i need a couple of ferrets if anyone near me knows a breeder!