Mink or Pine Marten?

[Chinadoll]

Originally posted by luckies4me
I totally understand where you are comming from believe me, and your concerns are ligit.

However, their site is fairly new. Their is an adoption agreement/sales agreement which states several factors that must be met before the animal can be homed.

Most breeders of exotic pets cannot keep up on the laws for each state, it is almost impossible. Each state is different and laws are always changed. It is the BUYERS responsibility to research the pet they think they may want, and for them to do the work. They require USDA licensing for all individuals who want to breed and I was drilled tremendously. But I don't want to breed, just needed to point that our lol.

As for care articles yes they do not give much info on the site but when you purchase the animal you get a five (I think) page booklet on each animal that explains feeding, care, housing etc.

The ferrets are breeders only, not pets. They are unaltered so that they can be bred but will be altered if the buyer wants them as a pet. The exotic animal trade is very confusing if you do not know how it is ran.

They take very good care of their animals and have spacious enclosures, a lot bigger than almost every other dealer I have seen, which is what drew me to them. They keep their animals clean and healthy and that is what matters to me.


Being in exotic animal rescue I always run into throw a way type animals. Most of his animals are sold to other educational facilities, zoos etc. Mink are VERY hard to care for and not for most people. They stress this very much. I will be using this animal for educational outings at schools etc. Hopefully he will be semi tame, but I'm not counting on it.

My real problem with the site is the selling of whole ferrets. That's just way too easy for someone who thinks it's cool to breed to buy an unaltered pair and try to breed. For one...to properly breed, you need at least 5 ferrets....one of which being a vasectimized hob(male) to take the female out of heat during the times you don't her bred, more than one male so that at least one is in rut for when you want to breed, and a good vet that will give your female a hormone shot in case none of your males can bring her out of heat. So many things can go wrong with even experienced breeders.

Just to easy for someone with only marginal experience to get a breeding pair when in reality they need more than 2...not to mention no consideration of bloodlines and genetics. Ferrets are prone to many diseases/cancers. To breed a pair of ferrets without knowing their bloodlines and what genes they possess is completely iresponsible. Someone unexperienced can breed animals with the Waardenburg gene unknowingly and perpetuate deafness in ferrets etc etc..

Also, ferrets are domestic animals, not an exotic. Most of the ferrets I have are rescues. There is such an over population...I know many shelters that have a hard time keeping up. I just have a real problem with that site, perhaps unwittingly, contributing to backyard breeders. Ethical breeders have homes for all the babies before they're even born. They know the bloodlines. They are always prepared to care for any animal they breed for the rest of it's life if in any case the person adopting one of theirs does not work out. They know each and every person they adopt one of their babies to and educate that person in ownership if need be. Also want to add...the few breeders I know and shelters for that matter have extensive adoption agreements...listing how many pets, what happened to them, how you plan to care for the ferret(what size cage and food you plan to feed), whether you rent or own, your vets name and phone number etc.. All of this is to make darn sure that the animal they have bred is going into an excellent, educated home for the ferret.

I haven't done any research on exotics. My only problem with that site was the selling of unaltered ferrets. I'm sure you've done the research and I know you'd give any of those animals a good home. I'm not trying to sound pompous...but as long as you're comfortable with the site and know they're legit...that's great, I wish you the best of luck. my 2 cents again, for what it's worth.