Should my ferret be castrated?

Can you tell me whether having my hob ferret castrated will affect his working ability?

No, in fact I, and many others, have experienced the exact opposite with castrated hobs. The male ferret is castrated when he is fully in season, normally around February or March. Technically, he is then no longer a hob, but a hobble. Using a hobble improves working ability, especially in the latter part of the season, as the animal’s mind does not wander from its task as its body is not awash with hormones. Neutered ferrets don’t flirt with each other, square up for a skirmish or try to mate with a jill when they should be bolting rabbits.However, my vet advises that, as a precaution, after the operation a hob should be kept away from any in-season jill for a month or so.

What is YOUR opinion?

Join other ST readers in our forums to discuss your views.

Like this article? Mark this page on a social bookmarking website…

de.licio.us

reddit

digg

About the author

Simon Whitehead

A Suffolk-based professional ferreter and rabbit controller, author and Shooting Times contributor, Simon is known widely as The Ferret Man and acknowledged as the last full-time warrener operating in Britain. Born in Middlesbrough in 1968, he moved with his parents to Suffolk in 1984 after the collapse of Cleveland's steel industry, and turned a boyhood fascination into a business in 2001, demonstrating ferreting at country shows nationwide through the summer and controlling rabbits in rural and urban East Anglia through the winter. Simon has become ferreting's premier demonstrator in the UK, sits on the Shooting Times expert panel and writes regularly for the magazine. He is the author of four books, including Ferreting: An Essential Guide, published by Crowood, and Ahead of the Game, celebrating wild rabbit as food, and has appeared in television programmes on rabbit management.

More from Simon Whitehead