Hi all,
I haven't posted since the christmas tree questions, but I need
some help. August of 1993, we picked up a 1/2 German 1/2 American
male sable ferret. We had intended on only getting him as a pet
but other people at shows and such kept saying we should breed him.
Gossamer is a beautiful and large dark sable. He has a great
disposition. We decided to try and breed him. He was born on
May 5th of 1993. He didn't come into full season until late
Febuary of 1994. He was almost disqualified at the Fredrick Show in
1994 because one of the judges didn't believe he was intact. At that
time his testicles hadn't dropped. Gossamer was breed several times
in the late spring of '94. No litters were produced. Also, only
one testical had dropped. The other is present but still inside
(stage fright ?). Gossamer was not breed all summer due to his
inability to have kits so far. We picked up a little girl to
try ourselves. The first litter from one girl we have (Speedy)
seems to be a false pregnancy. Daphne, was mated with Gossamer
on Christmas morning and is due Feb 5th.(fingers crossed)
Speedy is approximately 1yr old , Daphne will be 1 on March 12th.
Niether jills have had litters yet. Speedy was taken out her 1st
heat before we got her by a vasectimize hob. We know that
Cryptorchidism is genetic.
 
What I need to know is if Cryptorchidism indicated a higher
chance of sterility in the males. Gossamer's sister Shootzie
(of LOS PA), has had kits. Most of the other kits from his
litter (of 12 surviving kits) have been altered to my knowledge.
We didn't pick Gossamer up for breeding purposes, however it has
been very frustrating watching him go through all the stress of
an inseason male and not become a daddy. We are waiting to see
if Daphne has kits, but if she doesn't then it looks like
we have to get him fixed. Had I known last year that Cryptorchidism
would cause all this difficulty in breeding, I think I would have
had him alter last year. So, if anyone has any advice on
Cryptorchidism & sterility please email me at [log in to unmask]
with what you know.
 
Derrick & Linda
Taz, Pepe, Gossamer, Daphne, Elmer, Barnyard Mac, Speedy
and guest Boomer
[Posted in FML issue 1068]