Bob a Hob? I think not, as he did make a reference to not wanting to under-go that V-hob procedure- I think- maybe I read wrong. my eye-sight is piss-poor without those over-40 reading glasses. Also, he did mention that he farted...um..poofed. An MF ferret with those 2 blue tattoos are neutered AND descented. I fully believe that Bob HAS to be a great quality "breeder" ferret, that cost quite a bit and has the blood-lines to prove it. I'm sure he has won may AFA championship classes, as well as those specialty classes- And I bet he's won those Sable classes, where the competition is REALLY heavy. He'd beat out over 120 Sables on any given day. And even if he does has those 2 blue tattoos, heh, I've got an old silver-mitt MF that was turned in from Animal Control- he whipped the pants off the many ferrets at the Baltimore Ferret Shows- in 2001 & 2002- he was best in Mitt 2001, and THEN in 2002 he won Best in Mitt/Mutt, where he had to compete against Mitts & mutts.And he was an older guy- he's now a beautiful whited-out silver, who's lost his mitts with old age. He's still beautiful, though, with his big black nose and big, liquid black eyes. He's been our #1 Shelter Therapy ferret since 1999. Back to the Heart-rendering, Heart -stick question about using gas with rats... Ferrets take MUCH longer to gas or mask down- and they tend to struggle and become vary alarmed- the one's I've seen have all bottle-brushed and taken anywhere from 5-30 minutes to "relax". When you've got a guy who's having a screaming seizure from Insulinoma, or a blocked-bladder from a swollen prostate (adrenal) and he can't pee, and he's backing up trying to pee every 4 minutes and squealing because it hurts- and he's about 7 years old and has just been turned into our shelter after he's blocked more times than I like to know- Then I'm always gonna opt for our vet's s decision or quality of life and method of euthanizing. I trust our vet 150%. We wouldn't have a shelter without him. Dr. Michael Zuccaro, Brook Run Animal Clinic, Richmond, VA. The Richmond Times Dispatch did a great article on him in Feb. 2005, I think. Entitled "No creature left behind." Because he doesn't do it for the money. He does it for the animals. All of them- exotic or other wise. And heh, Bob- I still don't care where you came from- or your musky-odor. Hob smells have always turned me on. Still do. Dooks, Marlene B. [Posted in FML issue 4885]