Pam Sessoms found
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1631&articleid=325

and Nelli in Hungary provided a wonderful photo:
http://pets.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/photos/browse/242e

There are certainly adult skull photos in many places which can come
in handy, as do the writings of Dr. Tailun He of Goteborg University
in Sweden over the last 10 or so years whose many and excellent very
comprehensive, very thoroughly researched journal publications on
ferret dental eruption and formation, ferret dentition and assorted
diets, ferret skull shapes and assorted diets, and other related
aspects contain some gorgeous photographs, but apparently none that
are really right for the education work on being able to actually see
the changes in dentition during the ages of kithood.

Certainly, also, other studies of interest can be found through the
USDA Lists of Ferret Studies (very comprehensive):
by topic category 2002-2006
http://nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/Ferrets06/ferrets.htm#contents
by topic category 1991-2002
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/ferrets/ferrets.htm
by topic category before 1991
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/oldbib/ferretla.htm
and other locations, but none of those have been just right for the
education work, either, though we may have missed something.

We are still seeking good photos of dental eruption in ferret kits from
the ages of 7 to 12 weeks to put into the photo albums at the Ferret
Health List, with the understanding that these photos will be used to
teach pet store people and inspectors how to spot kits who are below
the age of 8 weeks, which is currently illegal in some states and will
hopefully be more widely illegal in the future for the simple reason
that it is healthier for the kits themselves.

BTW, when it comes to kit health and early removal from the mother,
some also compelling data also exist in other developmental articles
including in a journal article on immature kit intestinal villi --
another indicator that longer nursing than to 6 weeks is better, and
also in a journal article on tracheal secretions indicating that kits
younger than 8 weeks old are less able to deal with the challenges
of respiratory disease so are best with with their moms rather than
traveling and being handled by many people. (Yes, APHIS got copies
of the abstracts of these studies back during the comment time on
regulations so that they could pursue further.)

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5606]