Hope everyone survived Halloween.  The fuzzies all dressed up in their
costumes for the occassion.  Yeah right!  My bunch?  I had thought about
spray painting thier heads withthat day-glo stuff and letting them go as
Dennis Rodman but the way that they like to groom each other- I decided
better not.  Hope to see lots of you in Chambersburg this weekend!
 
SUSPECTED ADRENAL PROBLEMS
You can do one of several things.  Wait and see if the coat grows back, do
the adrenal panel blood test (Your vet draws blood and sends to University
of TN School of Vet Med for analysis) or do an exploratory.  There are
several other symptoms of adrenal tumors than hairloss.  A swollen vulva,
dry flaky skin, and "nesting" ie.  all of a sudden she becomes a true
snuggle bug- wants you to hold her all the time.  In males, acting like a
whole male- aggressive with the others, mounting the females is another
symptom.  In addition there is usually a weight loss.  If your girl isn't
exhibiting any of these other symptoms- particularly the enlarged vulva, I'd
wait it out for a few weeks or so.  In all honesty with the weight gain, it
sounds like she blew her coat and is putting on winter weight.  My money
would be on her preparing for a long winters nap with a very warm coat.
 
RAISON OVERDOSE
I have been through this one in a slightly different way.  Molly managed to
climb 6 feet up on to the top of a tv and knock down a box of ferretbites.
Of course she then raced down to shred it open and devour the entire
contents.  Needless to say she was blessed with the runs.  I called the vet,
who suggested I do nothing as long as she was drinking, and if the situation
had not improved by the next day, to call back.  The stools were more solid
by the next afternoon, and by the second day, she was fine.  I wouldn't
worry unless symptoms don't improve within 24 hours.  Make sure the animal
is drinking plenty of fluids- you may want to put 1/2 Pedialyte and 1/2
water in the water bottle for a day or two, and let nature take it's course.
There is nothing in Raisin Bran toxic to fuzzies.
 
MARSHALL FARMS
That is definitely a MF ferret.  They operate out of Wolcott, NY.
 
NEW YORK FFZ
New York City IS a FFZ.  However, it is a Health Department Code rather than
a statutory law.  (At least this is what I've been told- if anyone has info
to the contrary, please let me know) I have never heard of anyone being
"arrested" for ferret ownership in NYC, possibly the ferret will be removed
(what will happen to the ferret is unkbown) and the owner given a small
fine.  They don't have F&G spies like CA, and as long as you don't flaunt
it, nobody cares, unless there is a complaint.  However, if there is a
complaint (a biting incident or nasty neighbor) the Health Department will
act.  You can even get a State license (required for ownership in NY) if
your address is say, Long Island City, Parkchester, Astoria, Bay Ridge, etc.
The En Con people- who issue the licesnses last I knew- won't catch on
unless it's actually NY, NY.  (Basically a Manhatten addy) If you have a
license I guess you could always plead ignorance.."but they gave me a
license...".  Hyde Park is not in NYC- it is over an hour North in Dutchess
County, so you should have no problem.  BTW- are you going to CIA by chance?
 
CLOTH EATING FERRETS
Gabriel goes through spurts of cloth eating.  At five months its a sign of
boredom.  Remove cloth from her cage, and give her a shoebox, or something
simalar to sleep in.  Gradually give her back bedding.  Gabe is not
currently chewing cloth, but he still loves paper.  Paper towels are a
delicacy to him!
 
SMELLY FERRETS
Well, other than the obvious- whole males in season and kits under say 12
weeks, I have found no difference in smell in my bunch of alters from season
to season.  This is my observation, others may have different experiences.
 
BREEDING FERRETS
If you decide to even think about breeding- you had better be near an
experienced breeder who can help in a crisis.  I don't breed- probably know
enough to if I wanted, but it doesn't fit my lifestyle.  I am not willing to
devote my entire life to breeding ferrets, and that's what you do if you
breed.  Here are some answers to your questions...
 
- care of whole males
  eg I know that whole males can't live together but what about putting them
  with a neutered male or female?
 
Whole Males MUST be kept seperate from ALL other ferrets when in season.
They will shred any other ferret in the cage with them.  Male, female it
doesn't matter- the crack of dawn won't be safe around them.  They are not
prticularly nice to their peoples then either.
 
- care of whole females
  eg how to tell if they are on heat
 
Swollen vulva and nesting
 
, jab vs vasectomised male
 
I don't understand this question  Do you mean Gib vs. Vasectimized male?  A
gib has no more desire to "make babies" with another ferret than you do.  He
has been castrated.  A vasectimized hob still has all of his "parts".  The
tubes leading from the testes have been cut, just like in a human male.  He
still has all the getup and go of a non-vasectimized hob.
 
- care of pregnant females
  eg nutrition, housing, gestation period
 
42 days, best to be seperated from others
 
- false pregnancies
 
it happens
 
- birth
 
generally mom can handle this on her own
 
  eg common birth complications and what to do about them.
 
here's the fun part...
Mom canabalizes her kits.
Mom doesn't get milk.  Then you hand feed every TWO hours round the clock.
Mom rejects babies- you better have another nursing Jill nearby of course
Mom can hemmoragh and die, get an infection and die, etc.
 
- care of newborn kits
 
If mom does her job- let her be.  You'll have to vaccinate at 8 weeks, and
every three weeks for next two vaccinations
 
- and probably lots more that I haven't even thought about....
 
mmm hmmm.  Like when your Jill comes into heat four months after she has had
a litter.  Do you have a vasectimized hob handy to safely take her out?
Have you thought about how to set up a database in order to track your
bloodlines and avoid interbreeding?  Do you know other breeders who you can
stud your females with, or let them use your males for stud?  It is very
stressful on a hob to be left whole and not bred season after season.  Trust
me on this one. You don't want to breed the same animals over and over with
each other, either.
 
Are you ready?  Probably not.  Not many people are.  It is a way of life.
You can not tell a Jill going into heat- oops- you can't do that now- we are
going on vacation.  In my experience with friends that breed, probably 25%
of all pregnancies end up with some type of problem.  Find a local breeder
and make friends- you'll need to know other breeders so that you can
introduce new bloodlines anyhow.  ASk them to let you learn from them.
Then, in a year or two, if you still want to think about breeding- good luck.
 
Happy Dooking to all
-Mrs. Duck
[Posted in FML issue 1739]