Classification and origin

Class Mammals (Mammalia)

Order Carnivora (Carnivora)

Superfamily Canids (Canoidea)

Family Mustelidae (Mustelidae)

Subfamily Mustelinthe (Mustelinae)

Gender Mustela

Species M. putorius

Subspecies M. putorius furo

The scientific name of the ferret, Mustela putorius furo, means "stinking thief", in reference to the character (loves collecting and hiding food) and intense odor emanating subjects unsterilised.
The ferret is a domestic animal in all respects, result of domestication dating back to at least two millennia ago. The ferret can be considered a subspecies of the European polecat (Mustela putorius), from which it is started the selection, operated by Greeks and Romans, which led to the current ferret. The purpose of domestication was to exploit these animals for hunting, in particular the rabbit, tradition that has survived in some regions up to the present day.
The status of the pet ferret is made official by a statement from the National Institute for Wildlife (INFS), that have legal.
The ferret, used for centuries by man to depend, unlikely to survive in the wild. Leave a ferret means almost certainly condemn it to certain death.

 

Anatomical and physiological characteristics

The male has on average a size twice that of the female; sterilized in subjects early this difference is less pronounced. The average weight of the male is 1,5 kg (1-2 kg), The female weighs an average of 0,5-1 kg. In preparation for the winter the ferret tends to gain weight, with an increase of also the 40% of body weight; in animals sterilized this change in weight is less accentuated.

The physical structure of the ferret seems designed for hunting small prey in narrow burrows. Its body is elongated and the legs are very short; the spine is flexible enough to allow him to turn 180 ° in a tunnel. The head is elongated, jaws strong; the toothing is typically from carnivore, acts with the canine teeth to grasp prey and premolar and molar teeth fashioned to chew the meat and grind the bones of small prey. The adult dental formula is 3/3 incisors, 1/1 canines, 3/3 premolars and 1/2 molar, for a total of 34 Teeth. The milk teeth, which are 30, begin to erupt at 20-28 days of life, and permanent staff to 50-74 days.

The eyes are small and the view is not very developed (The ferret is a largely nocturnal, even if it adapts very well to our diurnal rhythms of life).
The ferret has developed much of the anal sacs; it is a pair of glands, on either side of the anus, which produce a pungent and strong smelling secretion. Ferrets emptied the contents of these glands when they are very agitated or excited, similarly to what dogs do, that possess similar glands.
The internal organs are not very different from those of the dog or cat, apart from the adaptation to a physical structure rather slender. The digestive system is adapted to a strictly carnivorous diet: having to process food very nutritious and digestible, as animal protein, is relatively short (180 – 200 cm) and simple: there is no differentiation between small intestine and colon macroscopic, and lacks the blind. Always depending on its carnivorous diet, This animal has a fairly rapid intestinal transit time (only 3-4 ore) and its intestinal flora is very simple and of little importance in the physiology of digestion. The ferret has a very thick skin, rich in sebaceous glands, whose secretion is responsible for intense odor that naturally have these animals. The activity of the sebaceous glands depends on the action of sex hormones; for this reason the body odor is significantly reduced in animals sterilized. The sweat glands are poorly developed, Therefore, the ferrets tolerate the heat and bad if the temperature rises too are subject to heat stroke. The ferret does the suit twice a year, in spring and autumn; usually takes place gradually changes, but sometimes it is rapid, even with the almost total loss of the coat in one day. After changing the color of the coat, its length or even the design of the face mask may change.
Ferrets have five fingers provided with nails on both front and hind limbs. The nails, such as those of dogs, are not retractable, and if you do not consume enough to be regularly trimmed.
Very interesting, and the important practical implications, is the reproductive physiology of the ferret (described in the chapter on reproduction), very different from that of more traditional domestic carnivores such as dogs and cats and the important practical implications.

 

 

Recognition of sex

The distinction between males and females is simple and can be done at birth; the structure of the external genitalia is in fact quite different in the two sexes, and is similar to that of the dog.

Male

The penis is not visible, but it can easily observe the presence of the foreskin (a small opening) just below the navel. Of course in non-sterilized and sexually mature is very clear that there, front of the anus, testicular. The penis is provided with a long bone and thin, said bone penile, that can be palpated under the skin of the abdomen

Female

In the female, one can observe the presence of the vulva, placed immediately in front of the anus. In females and prepubescent and mature but not in heat the vulva is very little obvious, and appears as a small crack. During the heat, instead, increases greatly in volume and is easily recognizable.

Longevità

The lifespan of ferrets is considered an average of 5-8 age, although it is not unusual that exceed this age. The longevity record is 14 age, but it is a given exceptional.

 

SOURCE: Vet.Marta for Leftovers AAE