Pet shops v Breeders

[Tezza]

Just wondering where people bought their ferrets from before the ban in 2002.
 
 When we first came to NZ in 1999 our first priority was to make our new life here in NZ complete with the adoption of a couple of new ferrets, seeing that we had owned ferrets all our lives in the UK it seemed the natural thing  to do so off we went to the pet shop looking for our new family members, when we got into the pet shop we were shown to a pretty small basic cage that held about 10 kits which of most were sleeping, my wife handled them all one by one to find out their individual temperaments but they all seemed to be nipping quite a bit at her fingers & struggling to escape from her hand, we put it down to their lack of socialization & lack of interaction so we walked away very disappointed.
A couple of week’s later a friend of ours told us about a reputable breeder by the name of (name removed by moderator) who owned a breeding programme called (Mystic Ferrets)  she/he had a fantastic set up & loved her ferrets dearly, she interacted with them every day & they were very well socialized with no nipping at the fingers or struggling to escape from our hand’s they were actually tame!! needless to say we ended up buying two loving friendly kits from him/her that were to change our lives forever.
 So for me it’s breeders over pet shops as they have the time, the love & the patience to put into their animals.
 
I suppose the moral of this story is that you only get out of something what you put into it!!

[happyferrets]

My first Ferret was bought from a pet store in Allentown, Pennsylvania (USA).
It was a kit and VERY aggressive... not knowing anything I know now, I returned the kit and replaced it with another one that was more "tame".
Looking back, my heart is really sore that I did not give the first one the benefit of doubt.
In the US, pet Ferrets are big business and most of the "pet stores" sell from the "factory" which are both cruel and provide no human interaction/care.
Ferrets are VERY adaptable. You can even take a grown-up one from the wild and persevere a little and it will begin to trust and love you in very little time.
I did not know how adaptable Ferrets were at the time and my heart saddens to think what became of the first one I returned to the pet store because I was so naïve.
There are breeders and there are breeders... I saw a domestic ferret breeder's setup (in NZ) a number of years ago and was appalled at a little one in a tiny cage with her 7 kits wallowing in and resorting to eating their own feces to stay alive - no water, no food - really heartbreaking!
Irrespective of what type of breeder one buys from, these little guys are adaptable, trusting and loving no matter their circumstances surrounding their upbringing.

Its a Catch 22 situation... take a Ferret from an abusive environment and give it the best possible life or plead ignorance and look for a reputable breeder and get one that doesn't "nip" to suite your needs?

ALL Ferrets deserve the right to a loving family and a good life.

I received a re-homed Ferret a few years back who was the most aggressive Ferret I had ever encountered.
I wore welding gloves to handle her and wore boots in the house to stop the pain from attacks.
Suddenly and "just like that" (literally overnight) she became the most adorable and loving Ferret and refused to bite anyone.
It was later determined that she came from an abusive owner and she suffered severely from a tooth ulcer which was totally ignored and/or misunderstood.

Yes, you get what you put in...

[wirehunt]

Don't discount wild ferrets. A mate caught a wild one and two days later had it out working.

I've got some that were really cranky, hell one is called crank once they hit that one year old they can change dramatically.

[WoodrowBy]

I prefer to checkout the rescue homes first. Then breeders because they're experts and then the petshop last.

[Gilby]

1st ferret from "trade and exchange". - aggressive little bugger.

2nd from NZ Herald used to have an advert there "Phone Bill for Pet ferret" every weekend. - only likes me

3rd one from connection thought Auckland ferret club meet, direct from mystic ferret. - only doesn't like my dog.

[Tezza]

1st ferret from "trade and exchange". - aggressive little bugger.

2nd from NZ Herald used to have an advert there "Phone Bill for Pet ferret" every weekend. - only likes me

3rd one from connection thought Auckland ferret club meet, direct from mystic ferret. - only doesn't like my dog.

I had a great ferret from Mystic ferrets she was so friendly and reached the age of 9 yrs old, I still miss her heaps to this day best ferret ever.

[Furrball]

I got my first ferret from the buy sell and exchange it was wild as hell. Then I got another one from a breeder but that was the same. They ended up breeding and I kept two they were the best I ever had. Alby who was an albino was the friendliest ferret you ever did see he was also my best rabbiter. The odd time he managed to hold a rabbit until I got there. I was gutted when he passed away.