Those weird marshalls foot tattoos

[horse656]

i think both of mine have them.
one is just about 1 year and the other is about 2-3 years now.

[katt]

Kenai has no tattoo. He does have a toe spot that is adorable, but the thing is the hairs themselves are darker not the skin. It is pretty obvious that it's the hairs and you can see the pink skin underneath and the hairs are the same color as his other dark hairs. So I'm going to have to say no toe tattoo on him.

[miamiferret2]

the ear tattoos are for neutering and descenting. I was thinking that since marshalls prices their "fancy" (lighter colored) ferrets at a higher price at the pet stores, the toe tattoo is how they mark the "fancys" from the regular sables. By marking the fancy ferrets with the toe tattoo it makes it easier for the distribution center, etc to ship to the stores. These ferrets are shipped to several distribution points. From there they are shipped to different stores. Here, the stores always have 4 marshalls ferrets. Usually equal parts sable and fancy. Fancys are 139.99 regular sables are from $119 to $129.99.
We should take a count of how many females vs. Males have the toe tats and how many lighter colored ("fancy") ferrets have them vs. the regular sables. Or, since most non ferret knowledgeable people cant tell the difference between males and females, maybe the toe dot could be for that purpose. However, I really think that this is how they mark their "fancy" ferret stock. my almost cinnamon ferret (a "fancy") had a blue toe tat. He was the healthiest of all and he lived the longest. My regular sables have not had the toe tat.

[miamiferret2]

BTW, I would be no good at participating in the count since I've only owned one "fancy" and all of my ferrets have been males. LOL. But, the only input I have is that my fancy marshalls ferret had a blue toe tat and none of my sables have had it.

[jacksmomma]

This is an interesting hypothesis Miamiferret2! I have two boys - my "standard" sable does not have the tattoo while my "fancy" DEW does have the tattoo.

[taratee]

crane has one on his back left foot furthest toe in, but i have a white girl who used to be a fancy silver and icha was a fancy and neither of them have a tattoo

[miamiferret2]

Sometimes the toe tats are hard to miss. My friend just looked at all 4 of hers (after I discussed my theory with her LOL) her one sable does not have a toe tat but her 3 fancys have them but two are hard to see bc close to the webbing and one is closer to the nail and covered with hair.

[miamiferret2]

Meant to write "easy to miss"- sorry.

[jacksmomma]

I just went ahead and sent an email to the Marshall people. Most likely they will ignore me. but hey, maybe they wont

[Jackie]

Pixie (sable) has one. Trixie (champagne) does not:

Pixie: 2 years old
Weight: 1 lb 12 oz
Health issues : rather thin, buy no health problems yet
Toe tattoo: left foot, 3rd toe from the left.

[ferretdroogies]

They price the fancies higher than standard sables? That's news to me I have never encountered that... I'll have to ask my friend who works for Petco. I'm pretty sure they are all priced the same (Sari and Bantha were both $100).

The thing that makes me think it doesn't have to do with fancies is that all of mine are technically "fancies". Reks is a sable mitt with no toe tat, Pan is a DEW (she had a lot of silver when she was little though) with no toe tat, Sari is a cinnamon blaze mitt (I don't know if that's the proper way of saying that since I think all blazes have mitts? ) with a toe tat on her upper left foot, 4th toe from the left, and Bantha is a sable mitt (like Reks) with a toe tat on his lower right foot, 4th toe from the left.

[jacksmomma]

Petco seems to price all of their ferrets the same (atleast here - Tallahassee FL) but our other smaller petstores charge ~$20 more for the "fancies." Personally, I really love the "common" sables - which are more hard to find in the pet stores here - I guess because the fancies are more lucrative.

[miamiferret2]

Yes. What I say may sound humorous (?) but it is the truth. I live in south Florida. Where we live, all the stores that sell ferrets (not just petco) price the fancy ferrets higher. It has been that way for as far back as I can remember and since the early 90's this has been the practice of all pet stores (both corporate and mom and pops). I will take a picture if the marshalls ferret price sign next time I'm at a petco, pet supermarket, etc. and I will post here.

[sherrylynne]

All the pet stores price their ferrets the same here, as well. DEW, sable, panda, silver, doesn't matter.

[Jackie]

The same goes for here in Sarasota, FL. Fancies are priced higher than sables. This goes for all pet stores.