3:Castration, Spaying and Basic Information.
A message about breeding and handling kits
My advice is don't breed, i have had large litters here when i rescued, some handed in some born here, kits as small as 3 weeks old will munch on raw rabbit with gusto, then the real hard work starts.
10 six week old kits all baying for blood, every time you go to the house they are all clambering to get out, so you have to put them into manageable groups of say 2 or 3, then you need extra cages/hutches, if you don't do this sibling rivalry for food & attention kicks in, then the biting starts, they eat pounds of meat each day & need handling before they can be re homed, one kit is fun, ten kits are a living nightmare.
You may also find yourself with a maiden ferret who basically couldn't care a stuff for her babies, you then have to find a substitute mum, if that cant be found then you have to hand rear, expect to loose a good 50% of the kits if your feeding from birth, its not for the novice.
Any one breeding should have a good knowledge of genetics, at least 4 cages/hutches, a freezer full of rabbit, the local vets number on hand, at least 6 homes lined up, work part time, have a car, not be fussed about a holiday & that's before you start.
Basically forget it.
I am convinced the main problems with biting ferrets is lack of meat as kits don't do so well on dry food as a staple, i always found with tiny kits rabbit was better than chicken, i also think the splitting into small manageable groups is half the battle.
I must admit my two were really well looked after i saw them twice before i could take them home, each visit i saw 4 kits in a hutch with a 4 foot square run attached to the hutch, she had a big area set out for the ferrets & 5 of these small set ups or the kits, they were all fed flesh but had a dish of complete & 2 water bottles one on the run & one on the cage front.
Handling has been a doddle with these two & i have not had as much as an excitement nip from either of them, both are very easy going ferrets & an absolute credit to the lady who reared them.
People should know the basics even if they take on neutered ferrets & never have a kit, as we all know we get asked by non ferret people all sorts of questions & its nice to be able to dispel the myths but i also think us as ferret owners need to be clued up on all aspects of keeping ferrets.
The image of the working ferreter is also so different from the stereotypical '' there's nowt you can teach me about ferrets'' attitude, there ferrets are treated no differently from the ferrets kept as purely pets, its only a bad workman who blames his tools.
The best advice anyone can give a new ferret owner is buy a good ferret book by a british author & make sure you have a real good back up from people you get the ferret from & keep the meat feeds up in the case of kits, it does make a difference & even teeny weeny kits who will fit in the palm of your hand have teeth & will eat meat, starting them off that small on meat makes a huge difference.
Naturally they should be around 9/10 weeks before being re homed so if they have been reared properly & the new owner carry on the good work it should be plain sailing, yes there will be a few hiccups along the way but nothing to serious if the new owners follow a few simple do's & don'ts, most of it is common sense & ferret keeping should be an enjoyable experience, not a nightmare
Castration.
Castration is recommended for hobs, Not just to prevent unnecessary breeding it will also help to reduce aggression and smell, and to some extent it is also said to keep albino coats white.