More help needed with new hob

[lift boy 0]

Dry stuff and the odd rabbit and pigeon. I used to keep ferrets before and I was young and wouldnt work them because I was sh** scared of them. But as I have grown up I thought I`d take it up as I got my own place with 1000 acres in my garden to work with.

[Kay 3,709]

If i were you i would supply meat daily , you will notice a big difference in a week

[The one 8,524]

Aye mate feed them meat you should see a big differnce with in a week and plenty daily handling and work will tire him out as well .

[lift boy 0]

Well id keep them on meat constant now then and its cheaper any ways. Mind you they are cooling down a bit now mind, when I think about it they are quite calm, I had a big old albino hob once and he was very aggresive. What is a ferret doing if it sort of hisses loud? I have heard its on the defensive and that it is excited but when it did it it looked quite fierce to me.

[Quixote 9]

  lift boy said:

it`s a job for me to know what`s right and what`s wrong

 

Everyone's got to learn mate, you're doing the right thing by asking questions! Don't be afraid to ask anything, even if you think it's a 'dumb' question! Sure, there'll be plenty here willing to jump in to take the piss, but you'll soon suss them out & you'll find there's also plenty people around more than happy to sort you out with the answers

 

  lift boy said:

I kinda thought that a tap on the nose would sort of stimulate playing and they would play more

 

You'll never mistake your fert wanting to play with you for anything else! Lol...........My lot get turned on their back & their bellies scratched when they pounce on me (and they do that a lot!). The hiss is just a sing that they're excited right enough (if they take an aggressive posture you'll know immediately!) Nose-tapping's a bad idea though, as Kay says. It'll just encourage the fert to see your hand as something that it needs to defend itself from. If you can get your hands on some Ferretone (http://www.companionschoice.co.uk/product_details_6.htm), pour some on your fingers & let the ferts lick it off. It's a brilliant way to nip-train young kits, & it's a wee treat for them too, as well as being a useful supplement to their diet.

 

As far as feeding's concerned, mine get a 39% protein complete ferret food (anything under 35% won't do! Ferrets are obligate carnivores, & depend on a high-protein diet) I supplement this with paunched rabbits3 or 4 times a week instead of the complete. A 100% flesh diet's best for them........you'll find the dropppings are smaller & drier as the digest it more efficiently. It can be an issue in Summer though, so getting them on a complete dry food's a good idea! Plenty of fresh drinking water though!!! It needs changing every day as they don't seem to like stale water.

 

And like I said before, it's just a case of daily handling & play.

[lift boy 0]

Cheers for the advice. I enjoy handling my hob, he is like a big gentle giant, and I hope my jills get the same. My jills came from a really young lad from a farm and my hob came from a hunter. I have only ever had adult hobs before, and then I started airgun shooting but after a while I missed the fun of ferreting. My previous hobs were never worked well properly, we were young and dumb. But as I got a squad of 3, I`m just bonding with them till around xmas till I work them plus I will be getting a ferret finder, Only things is mind just been to see my new spot to work and It`s overgrown and practcaly no holes.

[Quixote 9]

You'll probably be amazed at just how many buries there actually are! This time of year, it's impossible to find each & every hole, & even the more obvious ones are tricky to net up. In any case, with the weatehr still being fairly mild, the buns will tend not to mass up just yet, so it can be frustrating unless you've got a peach of a bury to sort out. Once the frost has killed off a lot of the undergrowth you'll be able to get in & sort yourself out much more easily, and you'll likely find each bury will be more densely populated (AND the myxy will have died down by then too) Good idea to get to know your ferts in the meantime though

[lift boy 0]

Aye cheers butt. Bought what you suggested and they lick my fingers and without it they run to my finger to lick them they are coming well now, hob is being quite selfish with his food mind so I been throwing his in a bowl and giving my jills just a spread on the clear area of the hutch.