Hi Steve. I have several different claw/paw variations in my home. As long as they work and don't hurt...no problem. I have a few with short, thick and straight claws and a few with very curved and long, almost needle like claws. I have noticed with age that the "needle clawed" guys claws seem to thicken up. One thing to be aware of is with the guys with the long hair around the nails, make sure when clipping to open the clippers before pulling them away from the paw. I realized that I was pulling out the poor guys hair as I pulled the clippers away. No wonder he didn't like it! As far as elimination...I'm assuming that your new ferret is young. One thing I noticed is that young ferrets eat and poop more than anything I've ever seen! It's probably an age thing. My young ferrets (meaning a few months old) would poop between 2 to 4 times more than my older guys. So I'm assuming that this is what you are seeing. As long as they look normal and no weight loss I wouldn't worry. Also the young ferrets I've had go through this huge fat and fuzzy stage, then around age two, slim down to 1/2 their adolescent size. [Posted in FML issue 4523]