From:
ferrethealer@aol.com
Date: 2007-07-07 01:16:25 UTC
Subject: Re Weaning Re: [ferrethealth] Digest Number 836
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
In a message dated 07/06/07 5:44:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com writes:
I agree with what Ailigh said, just want to point out
that the age at which ferret Mom's "stop taking an
interest" seems to pretty consistently be around the
12th week in ferrets- later than in cats and dogs.
While I have no scientific basis for this, it is based
on personal experience in breeding and conversations
with many other ferret breeders.
**It really seems to depend on the mom, in my experience. For example, we
have one jill that literally allowed the kits to nurse until we noted that they
were damaging her nipples and removed her from them - they were over four
months at that time, and I don't think they were getting any milk at all (we
certainly never could get any from her at that point!), just comfort.
Right now we have two litters just about ten weeks old (they were born the
same day) whose mothers are reacting completely differently - one of the jills
stopped paying any attention to the kits about a week and a half ago, although
she had been an attentive mother up to that point, and is now back to living
with her previous group rather than the kits. The other was separated from her
kits for less than two hours and became frantic, is still dragging them
around, counting them, scolding them for "bad" bahavior, etc. These are both
experienced mothers and both reacted the same way last year.
Ten weeks is the earliest we will place a kit, but we have had kits that
would have been perfectly okay to go to their new homes a week before that as far
as interaction with mom is concerned. I think each case has to be looked at
separately.**
Dr. Ruth (also wearing her breeder hat)
*****************************************
Save lives - spay or neuter your pet.
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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