I have been catching up on some back issues of ferret news and came across
some items I wanted to comment on.
 
Pet store ferrets: My husband and I have been led to believe that United
Ferret Organization ferrets (UFO ferrets) are very well monitored for
such things as humane methods of neutering and descenting at a young age.
The pet stores in our area sell only UFO ferrets, they arrive already
neutered and descented, with their initial shots, an ear tattoo, and a
one-year health guarantee.  They are usually around 6 weeks of age.
We had wondered how such surgeries can be done at such a young age, but
of our four ferrets, two are UFO ferrets and have never had any health
problems.  Another of our ferrets we obtained as a neutered and descented
adult and has had to have surgery performed on him twice to remove the
remains of his scent-glands. This particular ferret (Stanley) does not
have the ear tattoo and so we assume is not a UFO ferret. Our vet seems
to think that the descenting was performed by injecting a caustic substance
into the glands, causing them to seal up without removing them.  Has
anyone heard of this method before?  Are UFO ferrets descented this way?
 
Another subject, non-descented ferrets.  Our first ferret we acquired
from a private owner at 6 months of age. He was neither neutered nor
descented. We had him neutered right away because we'd read that hobs
don't make the best pets, but put off descenting him.  Talk about smell!
Regular baths (every two weeks) kept his regular body odor in check, but
when he got excited or startled he'd let loose with quite a stench! And
since we lived in a non-pet apartment we decided that our otherwise
quiet and trouble-free pet might give himself away!
 
And finally, about cages. If you are at all handy with tools, and you
certainly don't need to be a carpenter, it is easy to build a good one.
We built our four ferrets a four-story ferret house.  Wood, chicken-wire
(hail screening works best for the floor surfaces), and staples are all
that is needed.  We found that overlapping shelves is a good way to create
a tall cage that allows access to the top floors without any danger of
the ferrets falling.  Ours sure enjoy theirs!
 
-Diane Kenyon (and Paul, Gooser, Stanley, Patty, and Ollie )
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[Posted in FML 0150]