TO MELANIE ABOUT BLACK SPOTS ON TAIL:
     My ferret, Maggie, also got these black spots on her tail and lost all the
     hair there. She has since grown it back beautifully. What I did was that at
     bath time I would let her tail soak and them scrub it and try to clean out
     the black heads. All that stuff comes right out...a little gross but...oh
     well it works. I was told that this is ferret acne, and that it comes when
     a ferret is stressed or going through "adolescence." I was also told to put
     some of that pimple medicine to dry out the black heads. I don't know if
     this is all true but I treated her like I would black heads anywhere else
     and gave her a "facial" on her tail. It took about 6 months for it to go
     away and new hair to come in. Good Luck.
 
 
     HELP!
     One of my ferrets, Nancy, was recently very sick and I had to feed her soft
     food (like Duck Soup). Now she's fine but she won't eat her solid food.
     Does anyone have any suggestions on how to wean her off soft food? She has
     solid food all day and I have tried ferretone and softening her solid food
     a little, but no go. She won't chew that hard food. She's only 1.5 years
     old and she should eat solid food. Can anyone please help me out? Thanks!
 
     Jennifer and the small gang!
[Posted in FML issue 1106]