Brett Middleton, a geneticist on the FHL, provided the following review in the FHL: Some of you may not be aware of this recent book, but many of you will find it a welcome addition to your bookshelves: Ferret Husbandry, Medicine and Surgery John Henry H. Lewington ISBN 0750642513, Butterworth-Heinemann, October 2000 Paperback, 316 pp. $75.00 from barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com Dr. Lewington is an Australian vet, but he has put a great deal of effort into covering husbandry practices, diseases and treatments from around the globe, including Australia, New Zealand, England, Europe and the USA. This is a wonderful source of comparative information for those who question the feeding and housing practices that are typically found in the US. Style-wise, this book falls between Dr. Purcell's very concise handbook and Dr. Fox's dense academic treatment. (For example, the chapter on ferret anatomy is actually "Fox lite": a less detailed version of the anatomy chapter in Fox, using many of the same figures.) The book is profusely illustrated, and is well-seasoned with clinical examples from the experience of the author and his correspondents. You will, of course, have to put up with Aussie-isms ("poops" = "scats"), archaic spellings that are out of fashion here (faeces, oetiology), and other un-Americanisms (colour, programme). B-) The first section of the book, covering husbandry, will probably be of the greatest interest to the non-veterinarian. The section begins with the chapter on anatomy and ends with a chapter on handling ferrets in the clinic, but the meat is in the three central chapters on housing, nutrition and reproduction. In many ways this section is a good start on the advanced husbandry book for which I've been wishing, and I would willingly have paid the full price of the book for either the housing or the nutrition chapter alone. The housing chapter surveys both indoor and outdoor housing methods, highlighting many factors to be considered in the design of cages and hutches, the selection of bedding, etc. The bulk of the chapter, however, is devoted to the design of the author's own free-range fuzzy garden, which includes numerous above- and below-ground shelters, ferret mazes, ponds, etc. This was can't-put-it-down reading for me. (If I didn't live in an apartment, I wouldn't be writing this -- I'd be down at Home Depot buying construction supplies! B-) The nutrition chapter covers both the commercial kibble diets typically used in the US, and non-commercial meat diets typically used elsewhere in the world. Regarding US diets, Lewington reproduces much of the nutritional data previously published elsewhere by Dr. Judith Bell, along with information obtained from other experts, such as Dr. Tom Willard of Performance Foods. This includes detailed information on the vitamin/mineral content of several popular kibbles. Unfortunately, there is little, if any, discussion of a dietary role for insects, live/frozen mice, and other tid-bits used by some to simulate a more natural diet. I think I'll leave the critique of the reproduction chapter to the breeders among us, except to register my disappointment with the material on genetics. This consists of a few paragraphs noting the neotenous nature of the domesticated ferret and recommending that breeders set a priority on health and temperament in their selection programs. Likewise I'll leave the sections on medicine and surgery to the vets for comment. The non-vets, however, will likely be interested in the information on the relative prevalence of various medical problems (ECE, ADV, neoplasms, etc.) in different parts of the world, and the possible relationship to husbandry practices. Overall, I'd have to say that this book deserves a place on the essential bookshelf of the intermediate-to-advanced ferret enthusiast. For those on a budget, I'd certainly place it on the to-buy list ahead of Fox, since it contains a great deal more information with immediate practical use. (And, for most of us, the fuzzy garden is LOTS more fun to read about than any of Fox's topics. B-) Brett *SLMW 1.0* "What a fine day ... for SCIENCE!" -- Dexter [Posted in FML issue 3356]