Advice wanted about V. Hob

[Rich.h 4]

I currently have two jills around 10 months old, both had the jab in febuary to take them out of season, now one has come back in again. Didn't take much maths to work out the cost of jabbing each multiple times and petrol to the vets all summer long is going to be cheaper to get a hob snipped and feed him each year than this jabbing business (although bloody good business for the vet). Plus I don't like the idea of filling my girls full of drugs all the time too.

 

Now I've had a look about and found an offer of a 2 yr old fully intact hob, so happy days there, but two problems. Firstly I only spoke to the chaps wife and she can't give me much info so I am playing it safe and assuming worst case scenarios. If this hob has not been jabbed for distemper, will it be safe for me to get him done anyway or will it cause problems if it turns out he was done?

 

Secondly is a doozy, turns out the guy also has two jills to go (missues wants to do up the garden ferrets are in the way case). I've no idea at all from her if these have been spayed or not, and if the intact hob has been at them at all. So I could endup getting two pregnant jills, any tell tale signs I can look out for on these girls that will show they have been mated?

 

I know I could just take the hob and my problem is solved but, these are workers and so i'm hoping if the girls are good workers then they will teach my two the ropes and i'll get a good team going, as opposed to trying to teach my girls from scratch.

 

Finally if all is well and i took both jills and the hob, will he be able to service 4 jills easily without any danger of exhaution or such?

[tonyh 1]

WELL I CAN ANSWER THE LAST ONE... HE WILL COPE WITH 4 JILLS EASILY,PROBALY WITH A BIG SMILE ON HIS FACE,,,ATB...TONYH

Edited April 3, 2012 by tonyh

[The one 8,479]

Get the lot keep them in a nice big hutch and get the hob snipped , a snipped hob should be able to live with four jills all year round and no mark or cut that many up .

A snipped hobs the best way to go as they can return into season with the jill jab as you found out and repeated jabs can cause problems , And if you divide the cost of the snip by four jills and they come into season twice or three times a year for ten years in works out as pennies

[Country Joe 1,411]

I would get one of this years Kits and get him snipped, you might as well just jab the jill again that has come back in,

as it takes six to eight weeks after the op before you can use him on your jills anyway,

You can snip a Hob at 6 months of age, when he is fully mature.

[Rake aboot 4,935]

Take them all,, they are better off away from somebody that doesn`t want them. Sort out the issues later, just keep them all seperate till you do.

[happyferret123 13]

If you do pick up some 'second hand' ferrets it's always best to keep them separated for a while first anyway just to make sure they are not passing anything over to your healthy ferrets, I picked up a ferret from someone and kept it at a friends for a couple of weeks just to may sure it was safe to put in with my other one .

Have you checked whether the gills are still swollen. That could show they haven't been mated, and if they say they have had Jill jabed you could always ask from which vet and phone the vet up to check?

Personally though unless you have a lot of land to ferret on, and a lot of time to get out I don't think you really need 5 ferrets. I have three ferrets, 2 Jills and a hob and that's plenty if you are only going out a couple of times a week.

[Rich.h 4]

If you do pick up some 'second hand' ferrets it's always best to keep them separated for a while first anyway just to make sure they are not passing anything over to your healthy ferrets, I picked up a ferret from someone and kept it at a friends for a couple of weeks just to may sure it was safe to put in with my other one .

Have you checked whether the gills are still swollen. That could show they haven't been mated, and if they say they have had Jill jabed you could always ask from which vet and phone the vet up to check?

Personally though unless you have a lot of land to ferret on, and a lot of time to get out I don't think you really need 5 ferrets. I have three ferrets, 2 Jills and a hob and that's plenty if you are only going out a couple of times a week.

 

Totally agree that 5 is abit of a handful, but I know full well if I land home with just the hob and the missus wasn't invited along to see him for the road trip i'll get ear ache, if she comes and i say no to the "cutesy" girls she gets her mits on, i'll get ear ache. so for a quiet life extra chaos of ferrets is a small price to pay. The two I have at the moment are more pets than workers but I'm under the impression that like working dogs you are taking advantage of the animals natural instincts more than your own training, and thus it shouldn't make any difference if they are kept in a hutch outside 24/7 or allowed to roam the house. Worst case I endup with the hob I need anyway, plus two more "pet" animals and a bank load of brownie points until christmas.