Unneutered ferrets can experience health and behavior problems. Unspayed females will go into heat and stay in heat until they are taken out. If left in heat they can develop a form of anemia through the suppression of bone marrow resulting in the decline of red blood cells and can become very ill and ultimately die. Even if the Jills Vulva goes down on its own it Does NOT mean that she is out of season. A jill which is left in season beyond for more than a couple of months is already likely to be suffering from anaemia and if allowed to continue will result in lethargy, hair loss, paleness in the gums, ears and foot pad; all symptomatic of oestrogen induced anaemia. This vaginal swelling will also make the Jill prone to infection and is another reason for removing her from being in season as quickly as possible.

Unneutered males go into rut. And During rut they become very aggressive towards each other and smell much stronger than neutered males. For these reasons, it is very important to have your ferret neuted if you do not intend to breed them. You can then keep any amount and each gender together having happier ferrets. If you are not prepared to pay this cost then you should not consider owning ferrets.

 

There is clinical evidence from extensive trials that neutering to early can raise the possibility of Adrenal Gland Disease in mature ferrets. Jills should not be spayed until out of season to prevent complications. Hobs should be a minimum of 6-8 months old before neutering.

 

At Ferret-Land we recomend strongly that ferrets are neuted.

Neuted Ferrets will put weight on as Neuted animals need 30% less calories after surgery so please take this into account.

 

Neuted Hobs are called hobbles or Gib and vasectomised Hobs are called Hoblets. A Neuted female is called a sprite. Ferrets under 1 year are Kits.

 

The Cost of neutering varies greatly from Vet to Vet but bare in mind that some vets may charge less but may not be as knowledgeable or experienced as maybe dearer ones. Hobs are cheaper to neuter then Jills as it is less complicated and time consuming then JIlls. You will be looking around the price range from £50 to £90. Roughly £60 for hobs and £80 forJills. Please make sure you look around for vets that have plenty of experience in neutering ferrets. If they say we don't get many ferrets in' then run as fast as you can. Ferrets used to be seen by exotic vets but now all vets try to take them on with the knowledge.