age? my new ferret

Question
hello. a friend of a friend had a little baby ferret wander in their yard, and they knew "through the grapevine" that i am an animal advocate and would take her in a heartbeat. she was sleepy the first day, which i dont blame her, where did she come from and what has she been through?
Anyways, she is very very tiny so i am guessing shes not really old. She is missing one of her incisor teeth on the bottom front, and she is already pretty well potty trained. she is so mellow, doesnt bite...ect. i just love her.
but i would like to know when i should spay her, as i see know scar and am sure she isnt fixed, but i read it shouldnt be till six months. could she be less than six months? she doesn't weigh a pound even. shes the size around of a small rat.

let me know if you need more information!
thanks.

Answer
Hello Kelsey,

That is wonderful that she finally has a good home! It seems like she has been through a lot.  Poor thing!

Age is generally guessed by checking the teeth.  If it is a young animal (less than a year) there should be little plaque or tarter.  An older animal will often have caked tarter and gingivitis.  Usually, the older the animal, the worse the teeth.  Sometimes it is difficult to tell the age of an animal by the teeth alone.  Your veterinarian can help confirm her age.

Size is not a good indication of age in ferrets.  Some females are TINY  while others are large and tubby.  This usually depends on the sex of the ferret as they are a dimorphic species.  The males can outweight the females by up to three pounds!  The small size could be that your ferret is extremely young, but that is not always the case.

Ah yes, the question about spaying her.  I've been getting a lot of those lately.  I am not sure what country you are from, but if you live in the USA there is a 99% chance she is spayed.  Nearly ALL ferrets sold in pet stores are fixed and descented before they are sold, and it is extremely rare to find an intact ferret in the United States except from private breeders.  

Other countries (UK, Australia, etc) would have a higher chance of finding an intact ferret. If you are from one of these locations, please have a veterinarian confirm whether or not she is spayed, as it is often difficult to see the scar.  

Ferrets should NEVER be fixed before 6-7 months of age.  I usually recammend about 7 months, since there are much needed hormones for growth and development.  Ferrets that are fixed too young often develop adrenal disease and other serious complications later in life.  This is why there is such a high amount of cases such as adrenal in the USA; where many ferrets are fixed far too young.  Adrenal disease is rarely seen in countries that do not practice early spay/castration.  

As a side note, I do not recammend descenting of ferrets.  The anal glands are only expressed when the ferret is scared or very excited and the smell dissipates rapidly. Descenting is a marketing ploy; there can be complications involving anal tone later in life.  For this reason it is better to keep them intact and avoid the surgery.  I have both a descented female and male who has not had them removed.  I notice little difference between the two.  

I hope this throughly answers your questions.  please let me know if you have any other concerns!

-Cindy P.