Right now in the shelter, we have a nine year old. His name is Jack. So far, he is plugging away. He does have issues with making it to the potty box, like most old men, however.......he is doing great. I keep telling him I am going to make him a diaper! Don't laugh, thought about baby diapers. That boy can poop up a cage and his cage mates in 24 hours flat. And his group is getting a little tired of the baths! I have found that on the whole, most live about 6-7 years. This is an average from what people have told me when adoption or speaking to them. I think most of that was due to education issues though, because they did not know that their ferrets suffered from adrenal or low blood sugar issues or that there was a treatment option out there. They thought the hairloss was from old age. I think you will find more ferrets living longer with the advancement of medicines and treatments for this little critters. And I hope they come up with a cure for these diseases. Research is definitely needed badly! Marguerite Life is not how many breaths you take, but how many times it takes your breath away... TinyPrints Ferret Rescue PetFinder Web Page http://www.tinyprintsontheheart.petfinder.org TinyPrints Ferret Rescue Store http://www.tinyprintsontheheart.com/onlinestore.htm Aloha Ferrets Ebay Store http://stores.ebay.com/Aloha-Ferrets-Store http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZtinyprintsferretrescue [Posted in FML issue 5149]