Ferret ear tattoos - which "breeder"?

[*blackrose]

So, I noticed Dameon, Rinnie, and Ruben all have different ear tatoos and I'm interested in where the later two came from originally.

Dameon is a Marshall ferret, as was Casey. They each had the two blue dots on their ear. So I know that one. (That, and he came with paperwork. )

Rinnie has one blue dot on her ear, although it is so far up and over you almost can't see it. I suppose she could have another dot hiding somewhere, but I can't find it. I didn't know if that ment she was a Marshalls fert and just wasn't descented...? Or if another "breeder" (farm) just had one dot as their trademark?

Ruben's ears are dot free and he doesn't seem to have any tats at all. I doubt he is from a reputable breeder, though. I read somewhere that Path Valley doesn't mark their ferrets...?

It was just something I was puzzling about. It would be neat to know where they came from. (And knowing whether Rinnie is descented or not may be helpful. LOL)

 

[JessLough]

1 blue dot is what Real Canadian uses. No dots is Path Valley

 

[Brattina88]

Jess beat me to it. RC ferrets are speutered and de-scented (too early imho)
Not that de-scenting really matters...

Sometimes Marshall ferrets have toe tats, too, but they won't confirm why... Random tidbit of info there for ya lol

 

[JessLough]

Sometimes Marshall ferrets have toe tats, too, but they won't confirm why... Random tidbit of info there for ya lol

The tattoo on the foot is for internal tracking of which vet did the surgery, so they know how many each vet did. That is all, nothing harmful

ETA: It is also speculated that it is a marker for the ferrets that are genetically prone to deafness and/or blindness. However, this is just a speculation from information collected from ferret owners.

 

[Kat09Tails]

Most RCF imo are brought into this country via Petco as a vendor. Ferrets are allowed in to the pet trade by weight not age so when I was working we had some *very* tiny animals come in. It was pretty disgusting and I more than once had to write an email stating that we got ferrets without teeth budded through again.

 

[AllieMackie]

Most RCF imo are brought into this country via Petco as a vendor. Ferrets are allowed in to the pet trade by weight not age so when I was working we had some *very* tiny animals come in. It was pretty disgusting and I more than once had to write an email stating that we got ferrets without teeth budded through again.

heh... Lots of issues have arisen with RCF, including a pretty terrible infection with roots in their facilities.

 

[CharlieDog]

I'm glad I found Chaz, because I really really wanted a ferret, but I would have just gone and bought one from a petstore before I found Chaz.

Now I'm going to wait until I've got my own place again, and can dedicate a room to them. And adopt

 

[JessLough]

Most RCF imo are brought into this country via Petco as a vendor. Ferrets are allowed in to the pet trade by weight not age so when I was working we had some *very* tiny animals come in. It was pretty disgusting and I more than once had to write an email stating that we got ferrets without teeth budded through again.

heh... Lots of issues have arisen with RCF, including a pretty terrible infection with roots in their facilities.

^That. RCF is horrible. The infection was known to cause alot of deaths through rescue ferrets, too, since no vets knew what it was (it was something they did not know ferrets could catch). Even though RCF knew about it, they kept breeding until nearly a year later when they were forced to stop for a few months to get the infection cleared -- and destroy all ferrets there.

 

[JessLough]

I'm glad I found Chaz, because I really really wanted a ferret, but I would have just gone and bought one from a petstore before I found Chaz.

Now I'm going to wait until I've got my own place again, and can dedicate a room to them. And adopt

Lots of people buy from a pet store the first time, and then learn and rescue. The rescues also tend to be not so willing to adopt to first time ferret owners, I have heard from lots of people, so sometimes you just have to buy the first one (NOT saying to not try, just explaining why people do). I had never bought a ferret, they were all rehomes.

 

[*blackrose]

Yup, Casey and Dameon were both from petstores. At the time, I didn't even know there were ferret breeders other than "pet store" breeders. And luckly the petstore I bought from was a feed store and at the time they took very, very good care of the ferts. Now they jacked the price up and have them all crammed into a 55-75 gallon aquarium instead of the nice big playpen they had.

I think Rinnie may be a Marshall - I think I found another tattoo on her ear (which makes two), although it is in a really weird spot.

^That. RCF is horrible. The infection was known to cause alot of deaths through rescue ferrets, too, since no vets knew what it was (it was something they did not know ferrets could catch). Even though RCF knew about it, they kept breeding until nearly a year later when they were forced to stop for a few months to get the infection cleared -- and destroy all ferrets there.

Gah. I hate ferret mills. That is so sad. At least Marshall has to keep a relatively healthy breeding stock (ie, no covering up a disease that crops up...not genetic health) since they also sell for medical testing.

I'm just glad I live near two rescues and am within driving distance of a few breeders. I'd hate to have to choose between no ferrets or supporting a ferret mill.