I've been told off list that ferrets don't usually have their eyes open at
3-4 weeks of age.  Not being a breeder, nor caring to have any experience
in that field, I've only had experience bottle feeding a couple of baby
ferrets and one of those did start opening his eyes at 3 weeks.  (The mom
had died giving birth the day before they were brought to me.) A ferret
breeder (or so he said) was also here when the ferret I reported about was
brought in and he thought the baby was "under 4 weeks".  Her ears were not
fully extended but her eyes appeared to be almost fully open.  I thought
the gunk in her eyes was because she was ill and I've no idea if she could
hear or not.
 
Petco employees are just now telling people that this same group of ferrets
are 5 weeks old, based on what their supplier told them.  So I don't really
need to worry about a libel situation since Petco is verifying their young
age (whether accurate or not).  By the way, these are not MF nor PV ferrets.
 
Several years ago, when Petco began selling rabbits they did what appears
to be a similar thing when they ordered a supply of baby rabbits from
somewhere back east (that's where they got the best price).  The bunnies
were shipped at about 2 1/2 weeks of age and there was over 80% casualties
just during shipment.  Their buyers don't seem to always make the best
decisions about how to stay "profitable".
 
Sandi Ackerman
Best Little Rabbit, Rodent & Ferret House
Seattle, WA
[Posted in FML issue 2581]