From:
tansyhl@yahoo.com
Date: 2003-11-21 04:22:23 UTC
Subject: RE: babies
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <7041081.1069388543349.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Author wrote:
> Hello, my female ferret Pinky has had her first litter 2 weeks ago. I was told that if you look at the babies the mother eats them. Does anyone know of this from experience?
That is absolutely not true. I always handled the kits from day one, and I never had a jill eat her kits. In fact, I think the more they get used to you, the more they get used to people. I'm not advocating harassing the jill, or bugging them when they are eating, but I certainly picked them up and looked at them, or stroked them with a gentle finger while they slept.
My brother's ferrets had 13 babies between two females. does anyone know of a ferret having a larger litter - what is average?
One of my jills had 15 at once, but 5-6 is more common. Get ready to supplement the kits at an earlier than usual age, and you should be giving her extra meat now. Baby turkey or chicken is fine. I used dried goat's milk with great success to supplement kits as young as 1 week.
Don't forget to keep a close eye out for mastitis (the jills milk sacs will get hard and red, she will have no milk), and eye infections (the eyes bulge even before they open) in the kits. Both are common and can become critcal overnight.