# ferrets living together



## sharpstrain (May 24, 2008)

I have just go two Jill kits - they are lovely - I have also bought an 8foot by 4foot by 4 foot dog kennel/run which has been adapted for ferrets - smaller mesh etc. I am going to put 15 metres of flexible pipe up the back wall to make an interesting tunnel, and also I am making 3 boxes each joined together by carpet tubing for hiding and chasing in and about. I also will put some dangly things - hammocks etc from the ceiling. So I hope they will have enough space and stuff to keep them occupied.

Anyway my Q is - the two Jills really belong to my children who love them, and I would like a ferret also. I know I could buy another Jill - but am half toying with the idea of getting a hob kit and possibly breeding next year when they are old enough and in season.

Can a Hob and 2 Jills be housed together all the time? Will the male breed with both Jills and will the Jills only breed once per season. Also just how much stronger does a Hob smell?


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## snakejed (Jan 22, 2008)

i keep a hob with my girls all the time except for just before they give birth when they are all seperated anyway


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## tilly790 (Jan 24, 2008)

Hobs smell is very strong...as for breeding they are so many in rescues , why not get a hob & get him vasectomised then they can live together happy & no babies.


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## Fuzzball (May 16, 2007)

Entire hobs and vasectomised hobs will pester jills in breeding season regardless of whether or not they are in season so unless you can keep the hob busy with a jill in season from March-September then I dont recommend it.

Ive heard so many stories of hobs killing jills as they just dont know when to give up.


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## Bobbie (Jun 25, 2008)

hey, 

i keep my hobs and jills together, until the male comes into season at around Jan/Feb, depending on when they are born, it will vary, but when they come in season i do seperate. i know many people who keep them together, but the male will badger the female a lot. and if you only put them together to mate when the female is ready, you'll have a better idea of when she is ready to give birth.

Also the jills would do well together when they have their litters, some of mine (through expierence) dont and will kill the others kits, but i do have a pair who grew up together and are inseperable, and when the kits arrive they help each other out. and it is easier on them as mums, especially when they have large litters.

Oh, and an entire male will smell strong when in full season, but when he comes out hes not so bad. but then its a personal oppinion, i dont mind the smell too bad, when others hate it (the rest of the family for instance)

Hope this is of some help. :2thumb:

Bobbie


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## Kylie (Mar 12, 2006)

a castrated hob will happily live with 2 jills but entire will not to be honest i would not recommend breeding you are better getting your jills spayed then adding to your collection its alot less work and alot lot cheaper!!


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## diverfi (Jun 23, 2008)

I kept a hob and 2 jills together - hob was neutered but still mated with the jills. They became pregnant, at which point we returned to the vet! The vet had "forgotten" to snip both tubes and he was still live firing; we ended up with 23 ferrets....:lol2:
He was re-vasectomised, the kits went on to new homes and they were fine after that. 
The whole breeding thing was fantastic - our jills were very keen for us to see their kits, to the point of dragging your hand into the nest. My kids really benefitted from the whole experience and it was very easy to care for them, despite the fact we were novice keepers.
Good luck.
Fi


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## daisyleo (Nov 23, 2006)

I am gonna jump on the bandwagon of saying "why breed??!" too, I just think there is enough on the classifieds and being dumped in cardboard boxes in random bushes.

Just get yourself a neutered hob or another jill and have them spayed, if you end up with two litters of albinos you will have such a job to rehome them as people rarely choose albinos from a litter, and that is a fact also spoken about by rescues!!

The run sounds lovely for them but I would say make sure the flexi pipe is either wide or has air holes, someone on another forum I use had a ferret or ferrets die from falling asleep in the tube and suffocating.


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## ferretmuppet (Jul 20, 2008)

you wont make money breeding ferrets, the meat bill alone for them is minimun £2 per day for 1 litter


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

Lol plus the fact that you cant sell them for much and there are so many people doing it there isnt a big enough demand i dont think.

Marina


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