| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
quasimodo
Forum Granny
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1017
Location: Over the Hill in Horsham
|
 Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:22 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
Very nice, hope that they are tame. Some of the worst bites that I have had were from a young ferret, little beggar hung on like grim death  Oh, and don't forget the string to tie up the bottoms of the trouser legs  
Sue |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Matt Lusty
Contributing Member
Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 81
Location: Gloucestershire
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Jamie - Long time no speak  lovely looking ferrets mate. My OH was going to get some, but then she noticed she could get hold of skunks  Personally I'd rather have ferrets at the moment as we have enough things running under our feet at the moment. Various critters not mentioning the 3 kids
_________________
Well butter my bum and call me a biscuit! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jamie_s
Site Moderator
Joined: 08 Jan 2006
Posts: 1963
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
lol naah sue they are lil nutta's and they havnt even reached the worst stage yet i dont mind though i know they'll come through it the trouser's are tied!!!
hey matt my old mate,ferrets are cool arent they get some of your skunks posted up
_________________
www.jamieswordsreptiles.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Peter Parrot
Site Moderator
Joined: 15 Jan 2006
Posts: 5402
Location: Over the bridge
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jamie_s wrote: |
cheers peter id love to see some pics of your silver and her kits,if you get a bit of time that is what do you feed your on? |
Hi Jamie, I`ll take some pics once the youngsters have left the nest and are exploring.
I have four adult jills, polecat, white, sandy and silver and a silver hob in total excluding kits. The adults work all through the winter so are fed almost entirely on fresh meat in the fur or feather. I fill a freezer full through the winter which carries me through most of the summer. I use day old chicks as a reserve standby and occasional supplementation during the hotter weather with one of the commercially produced biscuits. When I feed them the biscuit, I soak it first as they tend to go through water like nobody`s business when it is fed dry. I will chuck a few dry biscuits into the mix then once soaked to add a bit of texture.
What sexes do you have Jamie? If you think they whiff now, wait until you smell an adult hob in April when love is in the air and the musk glands are on overdrive! Potent!
Regarding tameness in ferrets, it`s the easiest thing in the world to have a non biting ferret if you have it from young enough and handle them plenty whilst deploying a degree of common sense. All my ferrets work, but they are extremely tame. They have to be. It`s an oft heard old wive`s tale that "tame ferrets don`t work" and working ferrets have to be "vicious". CLaptrap! If you ever hear one of the bar fly great white hunters spouting this in a pub, then it is safe to say that they have done very little if any ferreting. Working ferrets must be extremely tame.
Situations occur pretty often during ferreting which are known as "lie ups". This happens when either a ferret kills a rabbit underground, snacks on it`s victim, and then curls up to sleep it off, or more commonly, when a rabbit in a dead end tunnel puffs it`s behind up to fill the burrow tube so that the ferret can only scratch away at the rabbit`s rump in an attempt to turn the rabbit. A determined seasoned worker will not give up and it is often the quickest option to dig straight to the ferret. Once through, it is often necessary to plunge your hands into the unseen, feel around for the ferret and rabbit, grab the right one (rabbit!) and pull it out. The ferret will follow, unless there is another rabbit of course. There is absolutely no way on earth that you can do this with an animal that is not completely tame. I have lost count of the times that I have done this and to date I have never recieved a bite whilst doing so. Remember that the ferret`s blood is up at this point too as it is in full hunting overdrive. If I am working a hedgerow, and my partner is on the other side of the hedge and requires the ferret on his side, it is no problem to gently toss the animal over the hedge to him to catch. The ferret has grown to fall in love with human hands through its upbringing and play sessions so the act of sinking it`s teeth into human hands is completely alien to it.
The only time that I have ever been bitten by ferrets has been either been by somebody else`s insufficiently tamed animals or on occasion when it has been entirely my fault. This morning when I fed the jill who has young, she rushed out of the nest area and grabbed my finger, very gently. She then started to try and drag my finger back into the nest as if it was one of her kits. This happens with regularity, and is due to a combination of her strong mothering drive and the fact that my scent is very familiar to her.
Great animals, enjoy them. 
_________________
YSBRYDOLI POBL, GWELLA LLEOEDD
INSPIRING PEOPLE, IMPROVING PLACES
www.btcv.org
Visit our website - Gwelwch ein Gwefan
www.btcvcymru.org
Llinell Gymorth / Helpline: 08702 40 48 41 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Stuart
Forum Clown
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 16835
Location: Hertfordshire
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
They are lovely mate..my Dad used to keep and work them when I was a kid..as Peter says all his "workers " were very calm and handlable..
_________________
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jamie_s
Site Moderator
Joined: 08 Jan 2006
Posts: 1963
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
they are a polecat hob and sandy jill peter im gonna get em both done though cos i dont want to breed em.our last 2 were both 'sorted' and this kept the stink dont to an aceeptable level ill look forward to the post of the babies
cheers stu they are wicked animals,im sure dennis would love a new playmate
_________________
www.jamieswordsreptiles.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Stuart
Forum Clown
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 16835
Location: Hertfordshire
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | cheers stu they are wicked animals,im sure dennis would love a new playmate
|
He would probably be scared of it tbh..lol
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
juliewoos
Contributing Member
Joined: 26 Apr 2006
Posts: 135
Location: South Wales
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
awwwwwwwwwww swordy, i sooo missed this thread....how cute are they!!! makes me miss Tom's ferret Brian!! If it wasnt for the honk I would prob have encouraged him to get another!! how can something so cute be so stinky!! lol
_________________
It's not always rainbows and butterflies, it's compromise that moves us along |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jamie_s
Site Moderator
Joined: 08 Jan 2006
Posts: 1963
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
lol that is sooooooo true woos if you have em nuetred or castrated it does lessen the stink quite considerably though the strange thing with them is as well lisa is allergic to cats and slightly less so to dogs but nothing at all to ferrets??so she gets to have a cuddly furry pet without her eyes running and sneezing consantly
_________________
www.jamieswordsreptiles.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
