Housing my hob ferret

[Gimlet]

I'm moving my ferrets to new accommodation and I've got a single hob I'm not sure what to do with. Is it bad for an uncastrated hob's health if he is left permanently to run with jills which get jabbed each year? Frustrating obviously but will he suffer physically if he is in mating fettle around unresponsive females? Should they always be separated except when brought together for breeding and if a single hob is separated would he be happier with another hob companion or would they fight?

 

[Scully]

My hobs were always left with jabbed jills and I can't say it ever did them any harm, but it wasn't on a permanent basis. Dependant on how many ferrets I had and whether I wanted more determined what lived with what regardless of the time of year.

Otherwise I mostly house same sex with same sex, and have found that either will fight with either if not siblings, or suddenly introduced, but at the same time, as you'll know, they are very social creatures and I've always tried to avoid having a lone ferret.

I used to get people dropping unwanted ferrets over my garden fence and my OH one night told me one of my ferrets had escaped and was running around the back lawn, so I went out in the dark, made the same sound I always make when feeding them and the ferret came to me. I picked it up, and in the dark mistook it for one of my dark hobs and promptly shoved it back in its cage and all hell broke loose. I looked in the hutch and saw three ferrets rolling around in a cage in which there should just have been two. It was a hob alright, but not one of mine. I had to separate them but the interloper died within a couple of days for some reason I never determined. It had no visible injuries.

I haven't had any of my jills jabbed for over four season now, and one is in it's sixth season. I decided against it after a pest controller at a young shots day told me he never has his jills jabbed, and if they were fed natural food all through the year unmated jills oestrogen levels don't reach critical levels. Right or wrong I have no idea, but my ferrets ever since have just a very small amount of dried food if I haven't been able to get out for fresh meat. I feed them fresh meat throughout the year. They appear very healthy.

Sorry for the ramble, but that's my experience.

[Gimlet]

Cheers Scully. Ramble on, its all interesting. I've had my hob about 2 years. He came to me as a stray. I had no separate accommodation for him, just a largish court with plenty of nest boxes. The jills get jabbed every March when the clocks go on and that keeps them out of season for the rest of the year and I didn't want the hob to be on his own so I put him in with them. I've had no real problems so far. He tries it on occasionally but obviously doesn't get anywhere and generally keeps himself to himself. If anything its the jills who pester him. Once they've had their jabs they seem to stay fairly lively and they're always neck biting and pulling each other about. They sometimes start on him and he does get fed up with it but he generally manages to find space for himself.

I've noticed recently though that he's losing weight. He is eating but not very enthusiastically. Otherwise he appears to be in good health. I wondered whether life with the jills and being full of hormones all the time was getting to him. I'm only concerned because the new accommodation won't be as large as they're used to. I feel a bit sick after looking at Madcowz ferret court diary. I wish I built them something better but it won't be easy to add separate hob quarters now. Maybe I'll breed from him once next year then give him the snip. He has a favourite jill so I may just let them get on with it next spring. But if I do they'll still all be in together including the kits. Will I get away with that?

[Scully]

I've never kept hobs in a hutch with a jill and her kits actually, so can't really answer that one. I do know that if a jill with kits feels threatened, or that her kits are threatened, she can, and will eat them, but whether she would perceive the hob which sired them as a threat I'm afraid I don't know.

I've noticed the weight of my ferrets, and especially hobs, fluctuates quite a bit throughout the year, but the cause could be many fold. There is a long list of ailments which can effect ferrets, but the only one I know of which is exclusively related to losing weight is worms, but this is also associated with a ravenous appetite, which doesn't appear to be the case with yours. A sudden change of diet can trigger weight loss and/or the squirts. No diarrhoea or apparent injuries?

I know how you feel about large courts; I like my ferrets to have plenty of room also, and have built a few over the years, including one with three storeys when I had 22 ferrets living in the garden, but 22 is far too many and they had to go, initially to make space for the kids trampoline.

I currently have a large rabbit hutch, which are ok once you've escape proofed them, and a large home-made hutch clad in roofshield.

[compo90]

An entire hob will be hard on the jills....... I would seperate him for the jills sake...... In fact why have you even got jills? An entire hob is worth 4 jills in my opinion

[kent]

an entire hob can make a mess of a jills neck if left in. some are quite gentle though its rare

[Gimlet]

The jills are pretty good at biting each other but yes he does pick on his favourite a bit too much sometimes. They seem more settled in their new accommodation actually, possibly because I've tried to give them more things to do. If he doesn't make too much of a nuisance of himself beforehand I think I'll let him breed with his favourite jill next year then have him snipped. Presumably if I just have him vasectomised he'll keep trying it on and keep neck biting but if he has the full lop he'll pack it in altogether?

 

With hindsight I know what you're saying about jills Compo90. The hob is far less frenetic and easier to keep and he's a more methodical worker.

[kent]

The jills are pretty good at biting each other but yes he does pick on his favourite a bit too much sometimes. They seem more settled in their new accommodation actually, possibly because I've tried to give them more things to do. If he doesn't make too much of a nuisance of himself beforehand I think I'll let him breed with his favourite jill next year then have him snipped. Presumably if I just have him vasectomised he'll keep trying it on and keep neck biting but if he has the full lop he'll pack it in altogether?

 

With hindsight I know what you're saying about jills Compo90. The hob is far less frenetic and easier to keep and he's a more methodical worker.

 

Not always so, if the Jill is in season he might be as bad as before without the finish so to speak. Vasactomised will bring them out of heat and he wont then have the same calling although I have never done either, always either mated or separated.

 

I like Hobs for work as long as there are no purse nets, then its Jills all the way