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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 15:28:31 GMT -5
I was at a local petstore last night looking to see what they had in terms of ferrets supplies and they had the cutest baby ferrets I had ever seen They seemed a lot smaller than most ferrets I have seen at pet stores though, and I didn't have a chance to ask somewhere their age as the store was closing. What I'm wondering though is at what age can ferrets be healthily weaned from their mommies and what age is too young for them to be out for adoption? They were sooo cute and I'm so hooked (still wanna rescue though) but the last thing I would wanna do is to adopt some babies from a pet store and find out they're too young and have that cause health issues.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 15:37:10 GMT -5
I'd say all marshall's babies are weaned too young. IMO, 8 weeks is too young. I'm sure there is a good possibility they're younger than that.
I don't think they will have that many health issues associated with the early weaning (besides maybe less maternal antibodies in the system because of less milk consumed). Some babies develop issues with eating blankies that seem to be linked to early weaning. The real issue with marshall babies is the early spay/neuter, which seems to trigger adrenal disease later in life. However, it seems like ALL fixed ferrets eventually get adrenal disease.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 20, 2011 18:19:02 GMT -5
I actually saw babies too young to be away from mamma in the pet store today Papers all said 8 weeks, but they didn't have all their teeth in yet, and were the tiniest I've ever seen there
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 18:23:17 GMT -5
it's all for money, which is really sad. they don't care about them at all. i believe good breeders don't let their kits go for at least 3 months i think.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 18:36:30 GMT -5
Oh my, Sherry, the poor little babies! Some pet stores don't even soften the food for the youngins.
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Post by acodlin on Apr 20, 2011 19:33:01 GMT -5
One of my babies Berry was taken too soon, she wasnt even weaned. The pet shop happened to be a good one and they kept her in the back and bottle fed her until she was able to eat solid foods =/ I saw her right after they got her and she was nothing but bones, barely had the energy to lift her head.. saddest thing I've ever seen. She's fat and sassy now though!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 19:34:34 GMT -5
Wow I didn't realize what an awful situation there was I really wish there was such things as ferret breeders in Canada, but there doesn't seem to be, poor pet store ferrets Sherry - just out of curiousity - what pet store did you see them at? The ones I saw were at a Petland location down south (Deerfoot meadows).
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Post by Sherry on Apr 21, 2011 9:25:00 GMT -5
Petland Westhills. At least they were being fed a soft mush of the kibble. And the tech was really good. One of the babies was getting a prolapse, and she noted it on the chart and will have the vet take a look at it today! Wonderful young woman They've even got them out in a ferret mansion by Marshall's instead of one of those blasted aquariums now!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2011 10:09:57 GMT -5
At least they are being responsible and taking care of those little ones. ey've even got them out in a ferret mansion by Marshall's instead of one of those blasted aquariums now! Wow that's a first! I wish pet stores here would do that. Especially when they have a FN on display - just put the ferrets in it. It would probably increase sales for the FN too!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2011 11:21:46 GMT -5
That's great to hear that they're doing a good Job, makes it a little better!
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Post by Sherry on Apr 21, 2011 21:38:23 GMT -5
To be honest, that's the first time I've seen them do that. I just hope they continue with that!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2011 0:38:15 GMT -5
To be honest, that's the first time I've seen them do that. I just hope they continue with that! Me too! I was talking to an employee at the petsmart by my house today (down south) and she knew about the baby ferrets at Westhill's too... apparently word is getting around about how tiny they are.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2011 6:26:37 GMT -5
All pet store babies are weaned and taken from their moms way too early; plus dont forget by time they get to the pet store they have already been spayed/neutered and descented We have had a couple issues at the pet stores in our general area. The saddest I've seen the fuzzies didn't even have their eyes open! AND still had some stitches in from the spay all too often I see kits come in that are too young to be adopted. At least the one store don't adopt them out and keeps them there until they are about 8 weeks. Still so sad The kits should be not taken from mom until at least 12 weeks old. Good breeders here you see them being placed from 12-16 weeks old.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2011 21:11:55 GMT -5
@ wepamperpets - that is sooo sad! @sherry - so I was bad today and went and visted those baby ferrets at the Westhill Petland and OH MY GOODNESS! They were so tiny I couldn't even find them anywhere in their cage - neither could 2 petland employees - finally an animal care person came out and managed to find them under one of the liners - but that's how crazy tiny they are! They were SUPER cute but at the same time it was really sad because they kept trying to suckle on my fingers and were teething pretty badly so I was basically doing ferret juggling trying not to get bit too hard and trying not to let them escape at the same time - the care person was "scared" of ferrets and wouldn't touch them. I feel soooo bad for them though. It made me realize I could never have ferrets that young - I would be so worried about them getting hurt. On a side note - at what age do they get not-so-nippy? These guys didn't have that sharp of teeth yet as they were just growing in - but I'm assuming they teeth for a while and are quite nippy during that time?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 24, 2011 18:56:34 GMT -5
They get better when they are trained NOT to nip. They do have some good staff there who will work with them, and I go up off and on(more off than on lately) and handle them a lot as well.
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