Ok, Bob, thanks for the opportunity to toot my own horn.....
 
I'm not sure why you object to the playpen - yes, I use it for convenience
as an aid in litter training.  As I said before, and you even copied it, a
room is a very big place for a baby ferret - the playpen was used to help
reduce the space so they would litter train better - no other reason.  I
would use the playpen if I went out and bought a pet store ferret as well.
If your baby ferret was very easy to train, then good for you!  I envy a
perfect little ferret that will walk all the way across the room to the
litter pan at such a young age.
 
Weaning: with my first litter, my vet at the time encouraged me to wean ASAP
- on his instructions, I started at 3 wks.  1 baby developed a prolapsed
rectum that cost me $200 in vet bills and much agony to this little baby.
With the 2nd litter, I did the same, and 2 babies had gassy tummies.  My
current vet, Dr. Edwards, said nothing is better than mom's milk, and Dr
Judi Bell (MF vet) says they wean naturally at around 5-6 wks of age.  If
ferrets have evolved to wean naturally at 5-6 wks of age, why should we push
it?  Who are we to think we know better than mother nature?  With this
litter I waited, and let them decide when they were ready to wean- I've had
no problems with any of these babies - all are happy, healthy, fat little
butterballs - no prolapses, no diarrhea, no gassy bloated tummies - all
quiet content.  Do you really think you see those sick babies in the pet
stores?  NOT.  I'm sure the larger farms don't release them for sale - if
the babies can't wean without problems, then they are destroyed.  Do you
think a ferret farm will spend $200 to fix one baby with a prolapsed rectum?
I don't.
 
Maternal trauma: I don't - and never have released babies at 6 weeks of age.
I can see how anxious my jills have been when separated from their babies
for short periods of time.  Why put a jill thru that?  After all, without
her, I would have no babies.  I don't think of her as just a baby-making
machine, she's one of my pets as well.  These babies will be 9 wks old on
Monday, 6/24.  Halo is just now allowing the dogs and cats in the same room
with the babies.  She's allowing the babies to more independent - no one is
nursing any longer, but Halo is still driven maternally.  I have no
references to give you - only my own personal observations and bits of
articles that I have read that have stuck in my mind.  Any one who watches
the Discovery channel has seen how devastated mother animals are when they
return to the den from a hunt and find their litter destroyed.  I know, I
know, I'm anthropormophitizing - something you frown on - but yes, I do it.
 
Pet stores ferrets are given a distemper vaccination at around 6 wks of age -
totally wasted.  Maternal antibodies are still in the system destroying the
advantages of the vaccine - hence, a longer vaccination time is required -
why stick a baby with an unnecessary vaccine?  I start my babies on their
vaccination series at 8 wks of age, a 2nd at 11 wks - since my purchase
price includes 2 vaccines, I wait until their 2nd vax before I sell them.
 
One thing you do is equate my breeding practices with your experience as a
ferret owner.  But Bob, not all people who call me have your experience.  As
a breeder and president of a local ferret club with a shelter, I could tell
you tons of stories about the type of phone calls I get all the time.
 
Not everyone is ready or able to deal with a baby - in some cases, I've
suggested shelter ferrets that are older and have gone thru the baby stage.
Club and shelter people know what I'm talking about.  Many people just don't
want to deal with the nipping, teething, litter training, social adjustments
to dogs and cats - some really don't know how.  My babies are teething right
now.  While they had made major progress in the nipping department, that's
been all blown to hell now that they're teething.
 
My first ferret was a pet store ferret.  I knew nothing about ferrets at the
time.  I could have done so much better by little Mickey if I had known
more.  Yes, he turned out to be a great ferret in spite of me, but didn't I
really owe him the best I could give him?
 
Since the babies have been 5 weeks old, I've taken lots of vacation time to
work with them.  I've been working 2 days a week for the past month - all my
free time has been devoted to the babies - and I will continue working 2
days/wk only thru the middle of July.  Mental stimulation?  One-on-one
handling?  Physical challanges?  My babies get them.  They've learned to
climb out of the playpen now and have full range of the living room - yes,
they are still limited in their run of the house, but I don't think they're
suffering for it.  You said you could do better, but you were out of town
for an entire week - you work fulltime; unless your wife is home during the
day - do you really think your babies are getting more "up time" than mine?
 
I breed to give my jill a better, healthier, happier pregnancy, and my
babies a better start in life.  Not ripped away from its mother at 4 weeks
to be weaned, not neutered/spayed at 5 wks, not sitting in a pet store in a
glass cage at 6 wks - where the only time they're handled is when the cages
are cleaned.  My babies sleep when they are exhausted from playing - not out
of boredom in a glass cage.
 
I could say more, but this is too long already, however, it's a great topic
for a future article in our club's newsletter!
\
Debbie Riccio
WNYFLFA/DJR Ferrets
Rochester, NY
[Posted in FML issue 1611]