Should I separate my ferts?

[gollum 1]

It seems that every time I open the hutch door to my ferts sleeping area the Hob has the Jill by the scruff of the neck and is trying to mate her...sometimes this is accompanied by squealing from her... and her neck and shoulders seem to be getting quite mauled. I know they can be rough when mating but as she is not in season yet it seems he is knocking her around with no hope of success and she is having quite a rough time of it. That said, they still curl up together to sleep and seem generally affectionate to one another at all times. The only other odd thing is she has started to develop the habit of staying underground when I take them out together.

 

What do you reckon folks.

 

Should I separate them for a while....?

 

Cheers all.

 

G

[bullsmilk 2]

first off mate if he is in seasone he will try to mate with her even if the gill isnt...second being ruff is the norm for ferts ..a nd unless your doing rabbit controle for a land owner ect i would not recomend you ferret this time of year as it aint worth the agro lol..and yes if you dont want kitts sepperate them;;;i have with mine

Edited February 27, 2008 by bullsmilk

[stubby 175]

by all means, if she's really getting a bad neck, then split them up until she's in season, as constant grabbing on the neck, will lead to infection, or if you have room in your cage/hutch you could add on the side, another box, drill cut through your hutch to make an entrance hole, but keep it at around 2" so that the jill can squeeze in, but the bigger hob cant, that gives her a place away from his advances,

 

your jill may be staying down longer, because hobs and jills work differently, jills being fast and chasing the rabbits through the tunnels, hobs are better at shifting rabbits that dont want to bolt, therefore your hob may be coming up sooner, not because there arnt rabbits down there, but because they are running all over the place,

if you have a locator/collars, then theres nothing wrong with carrying on ferreting, just you may be prone to more digs, but you get that with ferrets anyway, some people will stop when theres baby rabbits down there, but if you have permission, and the landowner wants you to continue, then go for it, remember he's the one with the rabbit problem,