First of all, I'll admit to being an idiot & accidentally deleting the FML from the other day, saying that the cause of adrenal disease has been proven. So, if any of the questions/remarks I have are misinterpretations of that post, my apologies. If I recall, it was said that it has been proven that adrenal disease is caused by too early neutering &/or improper lighting conditions. I have 5 ferrets. Two of them had/have adrenal disease - Ariel & Max. Both are from private breeders, & both are late neuters - Ariel was spayed at 9 mos of age, & Max at an age we're not sure of. He came to Jean at Ferrets Unlimited as a stinky hob of undetermined age, & she had him neutered just before I adopted him. He developed left adrenal disease 2 yrs ago. We *think* he's about 5 or 6 yrs old. Ariel developed left adrenal problems at age 1 yr 9 mos, & has had right adrenal disease (& has been on Lupron) for 6 mos. She will be 6 yrs old on 20 Apr. 2 of my ferrets, Oberon (age 5) & Puck (age 2) are from Marshall's, & therefore were neutered waaaay too early. Neither has had adrenal disease. Our 5th ferret, Ivan, we've only had for a couple mos now. He did come from a private breeder, but we don't know how old he was when he was neutered. He will be 2 yrs old next mo. All 5 of my ferrets are caged int he same conditions (in the same cage). It has a dark cover on it, w/ plenty of sleeping places that are in almost complete darkness. Those are in fact the places where they prefer to sleep. Doesn't this kinda blow the "proof"? The fact that my 2 known late alters who sleep in darkness have both had adrenal disease? And 2 Marshall Farms ferrets who *haven't* had adrenal disease? Again, I didn't have the chance to re-read the post, & look up any provided links, before I stupidly deleted it. If you could post those links again, I'd appreciate it. My point is, how can one say they have proof that such-&-such conditions definitely cause adrenal disease, when all ferrets in those conditions/situations do not develop adrenal disease? Seems to me that it's still a crap shoot. Just curious. And I'm certainly *not* an authority of any sort, but I *do* believe in playing Devil's Advocate when I'm not convinced of something. Theories have to be tested & be found to be consistantly true & reproducable by other people if they are to be called "facts", of course. And, just looking at my personal experiences, this "proof" doesn't ring true. Lin, Ariel, Oberon, Max, Puck, & Ivan [Posted in FML issue 5215]