>I'm wondering is what kind of shots they will need in the US.
 
The US Border people told us that ferrets need an international health
certificate from a qualified veterinarian, must be vaccinated against all
communicable diseases, including rabies and distemper, and that those shots
must be administered no more than one year and no less than 30 days in
advance of your entry into the United States.  This is much the same for
Canadian entries.
 
>From:    Catherine Shaffer <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Question for Breeders
>I know this sounds weird, but the first thing anyone asks me is "Does he
>bite?" I'd like to be able to tell my prospective "parents" that if their
>kit hurts them without provocation, I'll gladly buy the little guy back at
>full price.  I want people to love and trust their pets, not fear them.
 
All kits pretty much, no matter how sweet their parents are and no matter
how sweet they will become, go through a nipping stage as young uns.  Just
as my puppy is now grown up and sweet as can be, she was a holy terror when
she was young, and ate hands, feet, fingers and pretty much anything else
she could get in her mouth.  What you need to make the new owners of your
kit aware of is that most young animals have no idea how hard they can bite,
or when, and that everything that comes near their mouth is potentially food
related and therefore must be bitten.  Only proper training and patience
will break them of this habit and help them become good natured critters.
 
Try it with kits for fun, and you'll see what I mean - yesterday two of our
6 week old kits were roaming the couch and biting every part of my body they
could lay their teeth into, and man! do they have sharp teeth.  We've hand
raised them since they were 4.5 weeks old.  So we started offering them
anything we had handy.  They bit everything, and if tasted good they would
walk way with it, if it tasted bad they would hold in their mouths for a
moment, make a nasty face and drop it.  This is typical, and if you tell
people you'll take them back the first time they bite, you may end up with
the whole damn litter again.  Breeding good natured ferrets is important,
and we would certainly never breed nasty animals, but equally as important
is educating the new owners on the behaviour of kits in general.
 
>Also, if you breed ferrets and do not keep them outside, how do you deal
>with the smell of the hobs?
 
We simply do.  One becomes accustomed to the smell, and I don't feel any
more confortable keeping my hobs outside than I do my neuters.  Lots of
bedding changing, deorderizers and the like are your best bet.  I always get
a glow when people come over and say "Wow, your house smells nice." With 25
+ ferrets, three cats and a dog, that's no mean feat.  We are just very
diligent about keeping things clean and fresh.
 
>Third, I'd like to keep just one pair and breed only one litter per year.
>Are there any other breeders in the Southeast, MI area in case of
>"emergencies?" Any comments on the "one pair" method.
 
There are some downsides to this practice.  Namely that you don't have a
vasectomized hob to bring your jill out of heat when she comes back in after
her first litter, you don't have another jill ready to help if mommy #1
abandons her babies or has some problems, and if your hob and jill aren't
raring to go at quite the same time, you've got a jill left in heat.  We
prefer to have at least 6 breeding pair - not all of them might have litters
every year, but it gives us the opportunity to mix and match, have surrogate
mommies and prevent as many problems as we can.
 
Sheena
Wherret Ferrets Halfway House and Ferretry
Ferret Association of Greater Vancouver
[Posted in FML issue 1699]