Ferret Not Growing

Question
I currently own three ferrets, a boy and two girls. The boy, Fink, is one year
old this month, and he's awesome. We got Ani as a little baby in July 07, then
Roxy in Sept 07. We assumed Roxy was the same age as Ani because they
were the same size. But Ani has been growing a lot, and Roxy has not grown
much at all. Ani is quite a bit bigger than Roxy now, so I looked at their birth
certs from Marshall ferrets to see how old they are. As it turns out, Roxy is
actually over a year old! I have the birth cert (with her name on it) that says
she was born in Nov 06, but she still looks and acts like she's three months
old. The other two have developed normally, they all live together in a nice
big cage, eat the same food, play the same. I would attach a picture of them
if I could. Is this something I should be concerned about? Roxy has had all
her shots and has never acted sick at all.  Maybe she is a 'runt' of the litter?

Answer
Hi Lindsay:

The size differences we see in ferrets is usually seen in males vs females.  Females are commonly half the size of male ferrets.  I would strongly suspect that the two who have "developed normally" are male ferrets and that Roxy is a little female.

To determine which ferrets are males, look at their tummies. See a 'belly button'?  Ferrets don't have belly buttons.  That is a penis.  I'm betting that two of your ferrets have 'belly buttons' <grin>

If this is not the case, please write back and let me know?  Have you had them to the vet for their distemper shots?  Hopefully you've gotten them on time and your vet has been monitoring their weight. It's very important to get all the baby shots for these kids, both for the safety of immunization and also for the vet to monitor their progress as they grow.  As you say, if they are all eating the same, living in the same cage, playing, etc, the only difference *should* be the sex.

If that's not the case, please don't hesitate to write again and I'll be happy to try to help you.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers