I have had the privelidge of owning two wonderful ferrets over the years.
My first ferret I got was back in 89.  I was very uneducated and was told
she was a "baby" and that she was spayed and descented.  She was ever so
tiny and so I beleived them.  I took her home and about 2 weeks later she
came into heat.  Not only had they mis-informed me of her being spayed, but
she was not a baby.  Faron never got any bigger than what she was the day I
bought her.  I called the pet store and asked them what to do, and they
recomended a breeder.  So I had little Faron bred, twice.  But nothing ever
happened except that she got sick.  I called the vet who claimed to
specialize in small and "exotic" pets and he said his policy was the same as
any other vet, he would not spay her as long as she was in heat.  Too much
of a risk.  He said to bring her in when her swelling went down and feed her
raw chicken liver to keep her from being anemic.  She died a short time
later.  Needless to say I was heartbroken.  Not only did she have short
life, but she was so mean and snappy that we could never enjoy her fully.
To this day I do not understand how pet stores can sell these beautiful
babies to people without educating them about their needs.
 
Recently my husband brought home Gypsy.  A male sable with little white
socks.  He is a darling.  I went out and bought a slew of books this time,
not to mention going to every ferret web page that is out there.  Gypsy is a
Marshal Farms ferret, so we at least knew of his origins.  And this time we
found a vet that is truly qualified to treat him.  My question is this,
since I have limited knowledge of what healthy females are like, what should
the sex of my second ferret be?  We really want to get Gypsy a brother or
sister, and have visited many pet stores in Oklahoma city.  But so far, the
only ferrets that I have found that do not try to attatch themselves to my
arm with their teeth are the boys.  I found a lovely female who crawled out
onto my arm to be loved on, and after a minute she promptly bit my wrist and
would not let go untill the pet store owner thumped her on the head.  I felt
sorry for her, but I will not have a mean ferret.  All the boys that I have
looked at have been playfull and well behaved.  So are all girls mean?
Fixed or not?  And once I make my choice on what kit I want, how long should
I keep them seperate?  Can I introduce them right away?  I know ferrets must
be like people, some good and some bad.  But what is the chance of me
running across only mean girls?  I would appreciate any advice.
 
Thanks
Michelle & Gypsy
[Posted in FML issue 2125]