>From:    matan rosenstrauch <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: breeding - when???
>I wanna breed my Jill named Kvetch.  I think het vigina has started to grow
>bigger, but I aint sure.  hoe will I be sure bout that?
>
>Besides, should she be ready for breeding in the spring time, like April...
>Its now February!!!
 
Now is the breeding season.  Not April.
 
Get more info at ftp://ftp.zenferret.com/pub/FAQ/breeding.faq
It's out of date but still hopefully a good introduction to the topic.
 
After that we can answer more questions
 
>From:    Eugie Foster <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Shipping Ferrets, Marshall's or Otherwise
>You also have the choice of not shipping your animals or, for those of
>us who aren't breeders, only adopting ferrets from shelters in your
>state/county or breeders that don't ship
 
Oh then you recommend people coming to us.  We don't ship rescues or kits.
 
>So the way I see it, shipping ferrets is hardly a necessity and the only
>real argument for doing it at all is a purely financially one.
 
How silly of us.  We didn't think we needed to tell you why we've sent
our ferrets on trips.
 
We have sent ferrets to Florida accompanying Diane and Courtney at the
request of the Nickelodeon network so they could be on television.
 
We have accepted ferrets shipped from Indonesia when their owner was
forced to go back to Australia and could not bring the ferrets with him.
 
In an effort to improve our ferrets by broadening the genetics we have
brought ferrets in from other countries and all were on a flight or
multiple flights.
 
We have not moved from one state to another but we can certainly understand
why someone moving across the country would prefer to do a short air flight
compared to a highly stressful long drive in a hot automobile for their
ferrets.  We would recommend that.
 
We can also understand that some people would like to take a longer
vacation with their pets.  Perhaps flying "home" for a few weeks to visit
their out of state parents.
 
>Plus I've found that most ferret people are willing to go on a road trip
>to get their new babies if it insures that their new family member won't
>be subjected to the horrible experience of being sent to their new home
>via cargo.
 
Through years of experience with ferrets we highly recommend that as we
mentioned that short four hour sir flight is a LOT less stressful on a
ferret than a two or three day endurance test in an automobile.  This is
of course just our opinion but we have driving thousands of miles with
ferrets.
 
By the way to echo our original comment.  If you are driving your ferrets
we recommend that you not have food and water in their travel crates for
the exact same reasons we do not recommend sending them on flights with
food an water.  If driving though you can just take a break every few
hours and offer water.  Food works okay in the traveling cages or crates
but if the ferret is eating the dry kibble will make them thirstier.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 3332]