My new little guy, some concerns.

[Desiree]

Okay my first ferret was my only kit that was nearly 8 years ago. I remember her being small. I think she was 8 weeks old when I got her.

I just got a kit today. No idea the breeder, we were out and about in Phoenix and we saw him and I could not pass him up. He"s dark with a cute pink nose and gives lots of kisses. We bought him a tempoary cage for now.

My concern is that once we got him home and I started paying more attention to him I feel like he's too young. He doesn't quite have the motor skills and wobbles a little. He cries a lot. He is eating wet ferret food that he was on at the store. (I will switch him to raw). He has been pooping and peeing so I know he is eating and drinking.

He does calm down after a while and when he gets spooked he runs to my lap. He can fit in one hand. I can weigh him tomorrow when I get home.

My questions are, I'm leaving the state tomorrow on a twelve hour drive. I'm sure he will be okay but any advice to help get him home safely. Anything I should know about a tiny baby ferret. His paperwork does say he was 6 weeks old on Jan 9th. He was neutered and descented. He has an H tattooed on his ear?

Any advice is very welcome.

Pics below.

[racheld]

Oh jeez, six weeks old??? That is too young.
But he should be able to eat solid raw food at this point (I think Heather has has her kits nibbling on raw by four weeks). You will have to teach him proper ferret manners though, like not nipping too hard and where to poo.

[Deleted]

He is too young, but absolutely adorable. Poor little thing.

I did some Googling for "ferret with an H tattoo" to see if there'd be anything. This thread popped up from 2011. Looks like there's a couple who use H's per the comments. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/2908/ferret-tattoos

For travel, people use dog cages that they set up like a ferret cage (litter box, food/water dishes, bedding). I've read on previous threads that you'll need to stop to give them time to move around a bit. With a baby that little it may have to be more frequent since he may be frightened. Or maybe he'll be like me as a baby and love car rides (lol).

ETA: I completely missed that you mentioned a temporary cage! Sorry.

[Deleted]

My second little baby,Sissy could squeeze out of the square metal holes of the door of a cat carry tote.
She cried too,but i thought it was because she was sick---- she had a runny nose. My grandson held her a lot and she would go to sleep and seemed very contented when held.

A lot of warmth,like fuzzy blankets  a lot of holding and sweet talking.

enjoy ur little lap ferret 

Sissy was a good pottier.

he is a beautiful, sweetie. 

[Desiree]

Okay cool. I'll get him on quail first and a good raw diet schedule when I get home.

When I saw six weeks I was thinking it might be too young but I guess he's closer to seven since his certificate thing says he was 6 weeks on the 9th making him seven weeks old tomorrow. Although I have never seen such a young ferret.

He ate overnight and didn't cry for too long. He seems to make noise all the time. Exploring, playing, eating, he's always making noise.

@elenners thanks, they said he was from Canada and one of the girls that worked at the place said her male got pretty big, I'm guessing that mysterious H breeder.

Yes he definitely still likes being close. He's starting to initiate play too.

[msav]

Being a baby, if your lucky, and if you wear him out before you leave he may sleep the entire trip.

That was the case with Mogwai. He traveled very well. That was good because we were crossing California lines.

[Heather]

The cert that you were given....was it a spay cert or a birth cert? Sounds like you've got a RC or Hagen ferret. By the way, those certs are totally unreliable and stores keep them tucked under their cash to give to people who feel they need them. They're not factual and aren't worth the paper they were written on. He's crying because he's too young to be away from his momma and sibs. Keep him warm snuggle him and form a bond. Start him on raw ASAP. It will offer him better nutrition, that his little body will absorb. If you can get your hands on any raw meats and some bone meal would be a good start....just follow the switching soupy or cut up chunks of meats and dust it with bone meal powder. You will have to start him but once his nose is wet he will cut into that stuff like he's in heaven.
Here is some reference to help you age your kit:




Hope this helps a bit. Getting their proper age doesn't really help much but it might help you figure out how far off or on your cert is
ciao

[Deleted]

Your pics made my heart sink, how sad to leave mom and siblings so young. On the bright side you have a special opportunity to bond and get him started on a good diet. at that age my kits can handle raw on bone, but adding something soupier would help him feel full and content.

[Deleted]

I have experience with that. When we got Gizmo, he was about 5 weeks old. Waaaaay to young, he could barely eat on his own, we had to soup everything (the plus is - he's been eating raw since then ). We saw him at a petstore, and he was crying all the time. Everytime we passed by, we stopped to play with him - all he wanted was love and attention. And every day I was crying when I had to leave. So we decided to adopt him. I don't know what the regulations are there - but when you travel through Europe, you need to have the rabies vaccine and the distemper (that you can't give that young!) and to exit Romania and enter Schengen area you need to show the approval of the some sort of animal and agriculture office. So we had to fake all the documents, and convince the people that he was 3 months old (minimum age to exit country), faked vaccine stamps, but we had to microchip him.

We traveled with him when he was about 6 weeks old - for a trip through Europe, about a week, to get home in Finland. He did very well, but we had to take about half an hour break every 3-4 hours, because he would cry if he woke up. We stopped to feed him, and to cuddle and play - we brought a lot of toys to keep him company. But he did just fine. He may not know how to use a potty, but you can use puppy pads. And as long as he gets water and some food, he'll probably sleep for all the time you drive.

With Aramis, we traveled by train for a few hours when he was about 9 weeks old, without a crate or anything, and he slept in my pocket like a little angel.

Wish you a safe trip!

[Heather]

I've found travelling with the wee ones simple enough...except when various border concerns are to be dealt with....that being said ferrets as a rule travel very well. They often just curl up and sleep. A travelling cage with a litter box and a warm nest is all they ask for (or to be held and snuggled...especially that young)
ciao

[Desiree]

Just an update on our trip. He's been quiet today except while he eats. He's been eating good and of course peeing and pooing just fine. He fell asleep on my sisters lap for a little while. No border patrol between states that I am traveling so no worries there. I looked at the pics and I would say his teeth look just a bit younger than the ones posted. All the teeth are there just not quite all there yet. And they are SHARP! owie.

His paper is one of those spay/neuter ones so who knows how old he really is.

Ps. I'm not driving at the moment, my sister is.

[unclejoe]

We have a real canadian ferret with an H tattoo. Shes definitely a loner lol. He sounds like hes already bonding with you. Hes super cute. Enjoy his childhood and i hope he gets on with others For most of her life Prissy would as soon kill another ferret as look at one. But she was an only for a year or so.

[Desiree]

My first kit all those years ago was a real Canadian. She came with the RC paper work with the Canadian flag on it and everything. She was a sweet thing, a little nippy.

[unclejoe]

I should add that prissy is almost 8 and shows no signs of The Big 3. Wed take an Rc ferret any time.

[katt]

6 weeks?! Poor thing, that is WAY too young. Ugh. Stupid ferret mills. I'm glad he made it into a good home at least!! He's a lucky fuzz to have fallen across your path.