>From:    Anne Ryan <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Hobs in Rut
>Have to partially disagree with the Killians about hobs in rut being
>TeddyBears towards people.
 
You are also disagreeing with evey breeder we know.
 
>I do agree that leaving them intact is quite stressful on them.  I am
>nuetering one of these, vasectimizing one, and will continue to stud one
>for another year or so.
 
I certainly hope your two mean ones are the ones getting neutered.  They are
an aberration.  They should not be bred and if they are mean because of
hormones not because of other reasons they should not be used as
vasectomized hobs either.  Temperament should be about the most important
thing for deciding whether you breed a ferret or not.  Body conformation
should be up there as well.  Color comes after that.  We have had show
winners in body and color that we would not breed because they had problems
in temperament.  Hobs should be absolutely rock solid in gentleness to
humans.  Even foreign ferrets that have temperment problems get neutered by
responsible breeders.
 
We really suspect though its not hormonal changes but other reasons they are
biters.  This is absolutely the wrong time of year for hobs to be in rut
anyway so perhaps its for other reasons that they are problematic.  (Well on
this side of the equator - Aussie and Kiwi ferrets should be still in rut
but some few thinking about calling it over for the season.  Prime rut (and
estrus season) is after the winter solstice.  This is the time for fattening
up.
 
Jills do not get mean when they go into estrus either.  They sometimes get
very protective when approaching birth up through a few weeks after
delivery.  If they got mean for any reason we'd spay them.  We see
protectiveness of kits as different then meannes but we still are very
hesitant to breed these hormonally protective jills if its too strong.
 
A vasectomized hob goes through the exact same stress and habits as a
whole ferret.  We'd meant to say that the last time.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
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[Posted in FML issue 2109]