Wasnt going to post that we had an addition to our family, but Zhivago, a red eye'd white, has come home with us from petco. The day we purchased him, the girls getting him ready for us, confirmed our suspicions, he HAD BEEN THERE A VERY LONG TIME! They were happy he was finally going home with someone. They cheered, yeahed, etc, for the fact that someone decided they WANTED HIM! So what does that tell you? My husband and i had been in and out of that store for quite some time viewing the rather larger than kit size ferrets in that small octagon tank they have to call home, and decided one day, that eventually, IF he hadn't already found a new home, the biggest boy would come home with us. Well, as we had been watching him, play...he seemed to walk funny, more arch to his back, sometimes favoring his front legs, he w/also go down on the front legs, and push with his hind quarters, to ambulate. Decided he had to go to vet, with Bandit (who still has a swollen spleen, and is scheduled for surgery 2May) to be check by the Dr. for anything like breaks, xrays if necessary, off he went with Bandit, Jupiter and mom. (dad had to work). Our vet checked him over and determined that his conformation was off? I am wondering if the size of the container that they were confined to has anything to do with this, as they seldom got any exercise if any out of that octagon tank, except to be held by someone looking @ the ferrets, and the larger they got, as well as having to share space with so many others, has conditioned him to arch more, to cover less distance with a dash of ferrety play? I feel that if he really would have stretched out in there, he would most likely, if he hadn't already, run numerous times into the sides of the octagon and therefore decided that if he was going to get any activity in, that it had to be on a smaller (more restricted) scale? I hope you understand what i am trying to determine here. Hopefully with free roam, he will out grow this, but has anyone else noticed this? Or are there no more large ferrets (young adults) in tanks like Petco has been keeping theirs in? There are about 5-6-7-8 ferrets in there and all about the same size, NOT the baby, but older? Suggestions/comments welcomed. regards donna [Posted in FML issue 3759]