New Ferret owner questions and advice

[scarface79 0]

Hi all I’m new the whole ferret scene and to this forum, I have just been given 2 ferrets a Hob and Jill there 10 weeks old and are brother and sister

 

I have a few questions regarding them and I wondered if you experience people can help me out

 

I was told as there brother and sister there’s no need to have her spaded or him snipped as they wont mate as they know there related is this true?

 

I was told its better if you want to use the hob as a worker a vasectomy is better then castration is this true?

 

If I wanted her spaded and him snipped or castrated what age/time is it best to have them done as there 10 weeks old now?

 

Also as I’m a pest controller by trade I was hoping to use them on some of my jobs is there any good method of training them or is it manly down to instinct and what age are they suitable for working bearing in mind there only 10 weeks old?

 

I’m very keen to learn regarding using them and to gain knowledge of working ferret and wondered if anyone would or knew anyone in the Hampshire/Berkshire area that would allow me to go out with them to learn first hand either with my ferrets(when there old enough) or with there’s the art of ferreting

 

 

I look forward to all and any replies sorry about the number of questions but I just want to do right by them and learn the craft

 

Thanks in advance

 

Adam

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Hi all I’m new the whole ferret scene and to this forum, I have just been given 2 ferrets a Hob and Jill there 10 weeks old and are brother and sister

 

 

Ok. Stop right there. Someone's seemingly talking bollox. I'd be fasinated to hear more about the conditions one may impose on ferrets to make them able to produce young in mid January. Please ask the doner of these " 10 week old ferrets " how he managed that one.

 

 

they wont mate as they know there related is this true?

 

Complete bollox.

 

I was told its better if you want to use the hob as a worker a vasectomy is better then castration is this true?

 

Gray bollox; Why do anything to the hobs bollox?

 

 

If I wanted her spaded and him snipped or castrated what age/time is it best to have them done as there 10 weeks old now?

 

Bolloxed if I'd know. When Would one mutilate such a ferret as has bollox when no normal member of his species does?

 

Also as I’m a pest controller by trade I was hoping to use them on some of my jobs is there any good method of training them or is it manly down to instinct and what age are they suitable for working bearing in mind there only 10 weeks old?

 

I hope and pray you weren't taught and qualified in ye trade by the same person who fed ye the rest of the shrivvely gooseberries ye've been fed about ferrets?

 

I’m very keen to learn regarding using them and to gain knowledge of working ferret and wondered if anyone would or knew anyone in the Hampshire/Berkshire area that would allow me to go out with them to learn first hand either with my ferrets(when there old enough) or with there’s the art of ferreting

 

One or two very good 'ferret men' of this forum are in your area. One at least is also a card carrying Pest Controller. I'd be intrigued to see if he knows who supplied ye these " Ten week old " ferrets.

 

 

I look forward to all and any replies sorry about the number of questions but I just want to do right by them and learn the craft

 

Questions are no problem, Adam. And excuse the incredulity and thus manner of my own response. But, what with " Cammo Man " and now ten week old kits in the first week of April.

 

Did ye get these ferrets five days ago, by any chance?

 

Been talking to a guy by the name of Ian Woods???

[COMPO 54]

As always Ditchshitter you crack me up!!!

 

I will answer the questions posed as if they are genuine, but i too also doubt they are ten weeks old at this time of year....possibly ten months old, but ten weeks....

 

I will explain ferrets are photperiodic and come into season in the spring of each year(photoperiodic means as the days get lighter and longer they come into season), thus the young are born late spring early summer and are a few months old come late summer early autumn, ten week old kits in august/september not April!

 

If you dont want to breed from your ferrets and hobs and jills will mate even if sister and brother (they dont know or care) then i would advise having the hob vasectomised when his testicles descend in the spring after his birth.

 

thus the vasectomised ferret will mate for all he is worth with his sister but she will come out of season and wont produce any deformed youngsters

 

 

I believe (not all do) that leaving a jill ferret in season all year is bad for her health , thus my jill ferrets have a vaasectomised boyfriend!

[stubby 175]

I'll leave all the ferreting answers, as ditch seems to have covered everything that I would have replied, but I will ask you how long have you been

"a pest controller"

are you fully quailified,

 

or are you saying you have caught/shot a few rats, there's a difference between enjoying the hunting life and being "a pest controller by trade"

also, why have you registed as ratman79 as well, is not one username enough,

[lorelei0922 2]

Ok. Stop right there. Someone's seemingly talking bollox. I'd be fasinated to hear more about the conditions one may impose on ferrets to make them able to produce young in mid January. Please ask the doner of these " 10 week old ferrets " how he managed that one.

 

 

Hi Ditch... just to say.. more than possible... one of my jills came into season very early january ... she easily could have 10 week old kits by now...

 

They are housed outside in a 10 x 4 shed with only dim natural lighting... so its possible...

[stubby 175]

Ok. Stop right there. Someone's seemingly talking bollox. I'd be fasinated to hear more about the conditions one may impose on ferrets to make them able to produce young in mid January. Please ask the doner of these " 10 week old ferrets " how he managed that one.

 

 

Hi Ditch... just to say.. more than possible... one of my jills came into season very early january ... she easily could have 10 week old kits by now...

 

They are housed outside in a 10 x 4 shed with only dim natural lighting... so its possible...

 

with the way the climate is changing, I wont say thats not possible, but have you got hob's, that came into season too?

[ferretville 69]

Have to agree with DS and Compo who ever been feeding you this information is full of shit. Ever tried picking a book up and getting the general gyst of ferrerts and there up keep would be a start. If your genuine i`m sure there will be a few near by who may be able to help you out but like stubby say`s what`s with the two username`s got a hidden agenda there mate ?

[scarface79 0]

Hi Thanks for your replies just to clear a few things up yes I am a professional pest controller by trade worked for a small pest control firm in Berkshire since I was 17 then worked at Rentokil for 5 years and then in oct 2007 I set up my own business based in Hampshire with over 13 annual contracts under my belt already and work everyday for private and commercial its going rather well, I reg another user name as when I knew I was getting these ferrets I wanted to read up on them I reg as scarface79 but the confirmation email never came though until the early hours of this morning so I reg again using a different email (ratman79)on the Thursday night!(if there’s a mod reading this please delete my ratman79 account

 

All the questions I posted are genuine question as I didn't know the person who gave me the ferrets there was a sign free kit ferrets in a shop when I was out working in Sorrington I knew my girlfriend wanted ferret as she grew up on a farm and they had them there and I thought there'd make good pets but also I may be able to use them for work as I also

shoot and fish it seemed a natural progression,

 

I hope this clears things up I have no hidden agenda just after some advice and looking to make some new friends in the ferreting circle

 

Adam

[stubby 175]

fair enough reply mate, I'll check with admin, as I think deleating your username ratman79, will also ban your IP address, which then would'ent let you sign on as scarface either

[jultaylor1972 2]

Hi Scarface79 and welcome. I would strongly advise you to get a few books about ferrets as there is so much you will need to know I got my first ferrets last year and have never looked back. They do need quite a lot of care and attention on a daily basis and I would make sure you have a means of separating them because brother and sister or not they will still try and mate - the person who sold you them should have known that. Good luck with them. And PLEASE read some books.

[jultaylor1972 2]

This is a great book for the first time ferret owner

James Mckay / the ferret & ferreting handbook.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ferret-Ferreting-H...y/dp/1852237724

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

I'd beg to differ on that one, Jules. Check.

[jultaylor1972 2]

I'd beg to differ on that one, Jules. Check.

Yes, I agree with what you are saying Ditch, its just such an easy read that I read it in one day and felt I knew a bit more about ferrets, I get the feeling the lad knows nothing at the minute (No offence intended) so I thought that would be a good start, plus its very easy to get a copy. I've since read some decent books one of which is 'The Complete Book of Ferrets' by Val Porter and Nicholas Brown which in my opinion would be a good read for a novice but I dont know how he'd get a hold of that one as the one I have was published in 1985 . One thing is clear though - he needs to do some research and quick.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

The Complete Book of Ferrets (Porter & Brown) is, in my opinion, simply the best book about keeping ferrets ever written, Jules. It's indeed long out of print - got knows why! If Pelham are no longer interested, or exist, it would be nice if one of the paper back reproducers around Wales got hold of it

 

As it is, it now goes for thirty quid and up (really simply holding its cover price against inflation), but I recently watched a copy go off the Bay for thirteen quid. So it's out there.

 

However, whilst that book is exhaustive in its information regarding ferrets and ferret husbandry, I still always try to mention it in the same breath as Graham Wellstead. His book is far more in line with ferreting. He provides a better - again, in my own opinion - insight into how to go about putting a ferret to work and the results. That one's still available for a tenner or less and would be worth a shelf full of some of the shit churned out since.

 

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that, if one wants to learn as much as possible with as few as possible inches of book shelf space? Buy those two and stop. All one really needs to know is inside and between them. Anything else is out where the rabbits live. Waiting to become part of ones experience. Or perhaps in later volumes, articles, DVDs etc. which concentrate on such things as Long Nets?

[ferretville 69]

Adam start with the basic`s hutch,run , food ie rabbit, bird`s ,chick`s , or dry food. Get yourself a locater ,collar ,purse nets ferret box to carry them in ,you can get this stuff off ebay ,fieldsport shop`s or maybe`s even some of the member`s on here. Now if you have them together at the moment then it would proberly be a good idea to seperate them as the jill will come into season and you will have extra member`s to your squad before you know it. If you could get out with someone from off here just too show you the ropes then that would be a good start, if not get out yourself and learn by trial and error we all got to start somewere. Hope this has been of some help to you so if in doubt give a shout and i`m sure someone will be able to help atb FV