RE:  june batz
 Subject: BREEDING
 
>I recently purchased a nice 2 story cage, starter kit, it was called.  The
>cage came with litter food water bottle and a book titled your first ferret
>written by Adelle porch..what scares me is that if I were a first time
>owner of ferrets, this book is somewhat vague, one would hope new owners
>would get better reading material.  But the part that bothers me the most
>is how cavalier (sp) this author describes breeding, the hows and whens of
>it.  She calls it an interesting hobby, and her only warning to potential
>breeders is the fact that the birth process is particulary demanding on
>the jill.  JUST NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION!!
 
I totally agree with you on this one.  I was given the book by my mother
just before I got my first baby, and found it was so vague that I ended up
going to the library and getting veterinary books on the ferret.  There was
a lot of mumbo-jumbo and words that I didn't understand.  I wrote them down
and any decent vet will explain what they mean.  I also found a stockpile
of articles for newspapers and veterinary journals, and other books for
ferret owners, by ferret owners.
 
>I guess the one saving grace is that ( iam assuming)all pet stores sell
>spayed/neutered ferrets.
 
Not all pet stores sell spayed/neutered ferrets.  I believe that it's
better to wait until the ferret is 6 months old before you spay/neuter
them.  As they are more mature.  Both of the female ferrets that I have
had were spayed at 6 months with no problems.  Oscar was pre-neutered at
six weeks old.  He has always had problems urinating.  Our vet says that
because he was so small when was fixed that there is scar tissue that fused
to his urethra.  This has been lasered away, so he does much better now,
but there will always be problems.  Personally, I feel that it is better
to wait until they are 6 months old.
 
Isabelle
[Posted in FML issue 2577]