# Breeding ferrets



## missllama (May 17, 2008)

Okay, 
i was looking up some stuff about ferrets, my partner use to have a really great one but no longer around

has anyone on here ever successfully bred ferrets? are they like mice where they just never stop?

just wanted to ask i think there cute but stinky and they bite hard 

wouldnt mind hearing some stories about them and some info

my partners old one actually went over the fence one day and came back over with a doghnut :shock: all we could think of was that he went in the next door neighbours house lol

well thanks and looking forward to hearing about the crazy little creatures


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## bigi (May 17, 2008)

hey, i used to have ferrets when i was a teenager. We bred them every time, great little annimals, the females come on heat. this is noticeable when the females private part becomes swollen. You cannot miss it, Then just add the male.
they are born hairless and suckle with mum for some time, great animals brings back some great memories. We used them for rabbiting


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## DanTheReptileMan (May 17, 2008)

Wish we could have them in Qld
I love ferrets! such characters!


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## missllama (May 17, 2008)

oh wow, can the male and female be together all the time or do u have to seperate them when shes not on heat? they would look so funny hairless!! do they have many in a litter? 
thats cool that u use to have them i think there cool animals


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## missllama (May 17, 2008)

DanTheReptileMan said:


> Wish we could have them in Qld
> I love ferrets! such characters!


 
wow! another thing u guys cant have that is unfair id hate living there i couldnt have my gliders


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## DanTheReptileMan (May 17, 2008)

Lol i know, no rabbits either, cant we have gliders here!
oh man i might haf to move!


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## missllama (May 17, 2008)

Lol! move to adel u can have most things here lol!


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## Col J (May 17, 2008)

Hi Missy,

I used to have plenty of them when I was a kid. Used for rabbitting of course. I used to box up 100's of skins & send to Sydney. It's a shame, but the RSPCA won't allow anyone to use them for hunting anymore.

Ferrets are great little guys with insane levels of courage. I could write a book of ferret stories. My Dad mostly looked after them & dealt with the breeding etc. We always believed that if the does weren't allowed to breed, there was some E.P.O.-like hormone which caused the blood to thicken & they would stroke out & die. ??Who knows??? Only husbandry problem we had was foot-rot.

They weren't a problem to breed, but you only got one chance per year if I remember rightly.

Col J.


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## Col J (May 17, 2008)

> my partners old one actually went over the fence one day and came back over with a doghnut


 
Are you sure it wasn't a dogs a**e? Haha!!


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## missllama (May 17, 2008)

col_j thats hilarious lol!
aw really how long did yours usually live for? so do u mean that u think if the female doesnt breed they can have a stroke from the epo hormone? wow that is sad 
well this thread has been interesting! i like hearing about animals i dont no much about


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## Aslan (May 17, 2008)

*Missllama* - Female ferrets (Jills), if allowed to go into season, need to be placed with a male for mating or given an injection to bring them out of season - if allowed to go into season without being mated etc they will die...this is a major reason why pet ferrets are sold desexed...

...Male ferrets (Hobbs), if not desexed, become disgusting animals that stink horrendously and rub their scent everywhere - also get quite stroppy...I wouldn't keep an undesexed male anywhere near the house, an outdoor setup would be the only way I would bother...

...there are often a lot of problems with females during their pregnancy and vet bills quite quickly kill any sort of profit that may arise from breeding (and in fact make breeding an expensive exercise) - then comes the issue of selling babies - the market is small and many babies each season end up at ferret rescue organisations...

...I would suggest that if your interest is ferrets, pick up some desexed animals from a ferret rescue and forget the breeding part...


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## missllama (May 17, 2008)

yea i knew about the males needing to be desexed due to the stink but thankyou so much for the rest of the info i hadnt heard about it before! if i ever do get one it will have to be a desexed male, no wonder there hard to get ferrets and there arnt many breeders after what u said it doesnt surprise me
thanks again everyone
lana


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## Aslan (May 17, 2008)

*Missllama *- Ferrets are easy to find - if you look to a ferret rescue organisation...they have HUGE numbers coming in...the benefit is that you will also be getting an animal with an assessed temperament and personality and desexed at a HUGE discount (in general a desexed animal from rescue is cheaper than a kit from many breeders - and especially pet stores)...


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## missllama (May 17, 2008)

ferret rescue? lol i havent even heard of one before ill google one in adelaide, thankyou for the tips


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## Col J (May 17, 2008)

I fully agree with Simon about buying de-sexed animals. A mate of mine has some & they are as quiet as mice. Very placid animals & no smell whatsoever.

Ours were working animals & could be vicious when "on the hunt", but were quite good to handle otherwise. Can't remember how long they lived but not many of ours died of old age. As working animals, they tended to be killed by bailed-up foxes or feral cats (Grrrr!) or lost in the bush if they made a kill & went to sleep in a burrow. An old buck which my grandpop was fond of, Jimbo, went to sleep in a burrow once. After a while Pop started digging with a mattock. Just in mid swing Jimbo stuck his head up. . . . No more Jimbo! Pop near cried. Come to think of it, all bucks were called Jimbo & all does were Tiddles.

Col J.


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## Brigsy (May 17, 2008)

I always had ferrets as a young fella good way to make a bit of spare cash! Wish we could have them in queensland..


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## jonesc1 (May 17, 2008)

Hey Lana,
Try the SA Ferret Association
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/manage/edit-post/www.safa.com.au
They came and gave us a talk at uni last Wednesday, now I want one as well!
They have breeders contact details and are also a rescue organisation.


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## bigi (May 17, 2008)

col j , 
a trip down memory lane trying to dig the blighters out, thankfully not very often, when those rabbits run through the burrows its like feeling and listening to thunder under your feet.
Carry box on one shoulder, nets on the other, walking through the paddacks, a fun day out when your a kid,


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## missllama (May 17, 2008)

thanks jonesc1  i didnt even know of this place until now!


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## Col J (May 17, 2008)

> a trip down memory lane trying to dig the blighters out, thankfully not very often, when those rabbits run through the burrows its like feeling and listening to thunder under your feet.
> Carry box on one shoulder, nets on the other, walking through the paddacks, a fun day out when your a kid,


 
Yeah, how excited do you get when you hear them rattling along the burrows & you're trying to guess which pop-hole they'll come busting out of. Then when they hit the net, you dive onto them before they get away. Top fun, but unfortunately very illegal now. Better than playing computer games.


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## bigi (May 17, 2008)

Col j, yeh it was great. i bet you also had a slingshot in your back pocket like most of us did.
i didnt know it is illegal to do that know. Bluddie killjoys, our kids will grow up being absolute wouses who know nothing more than to be docile computer geeks.
i once had a ferret grab the rabbit in the net a try to pull it back down the hole. Boy did that rabbit give a high pitched squeel, and that ferret was strong, i could barely pull it out


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## DennisS (May 28, 2008)

*SA Ferret Assoc*

If you want to find out more about ferrets or where to get them go to www.safa.com.au


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## solar 17 (May 28, 2008)

*ferreting*

WOW bigi...a trip down memory lane alright as a young kid growing up on the mornington peninsula most saturday and sunday mornings were spent ferreting ..net bag on one shoulder ferret box on the other, and just to hear the rabbits thumping under your feet sure got your heart running ,ready to pounce on the net before the rabbit bolted and to sell them around the place "dressed for for 50 cents each you thought life couldn't get any better, and it probably hasn't in a lot of ways, with most kids today glued to computors....now living in QLD we can't even legally keep ferrets as the EPA bean counters know better, although l am amazed how many illegal ones there are up here.....cheers solar 17 [baden]


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## redbellybite (May 28, 2008)

solar they aint ferrets thier long bodied long tailed guinea pigs..........................................


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## cougars (May 28, 2008)

Ferrets are cool pets,We used to have a few and breed them.PM me if you like missllamathuen and i will give you the details of a rescue bloke thats always got something to rehome.

cheers


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