Gina, You should always consider adoption from a ferret shelter before purchasing a ferret at any pet store. With that said, I think many of us are guilty of purchasing a ferret at a pet store until we learn how many ferrets are waiting for forever homes in shelters. Most shelters are bursting at the seams and there are so many loving ferrets who need good homes. Please go check out the shelter listings at : http://www.ferret.org/index.shtm I would suspect that the ferret you saw was not 4 weeks old, however, anything is possible. You are correct, these pet farm ferrets are spayed and neutered way to early, many before they even open their eyes and they are taken away from their mothers and siblings way too soon, and shipped to pet stores! Many do get adrenal disease and insulinoma. There are farms in Canada. I actually have 2 ferrets called Real Canadian Ferrets. Teddy and Casper are brothers and are 2 1/2 years old now. Teddy was adrenal and implanted with melatonin at 15 months old (he is scheduled for adrenal surgery on Oct. 11)! I am beginning to suspect Casper may be adrenal also. I am not saying all Canadian ferrets are like this but this is just my unfortunate experience with them. However, with that said these 2 boys are the most fun loving of all my ferrets. They love to run and jump and play hard. My Teddy though has a BAD habit of biting you in the face if you let your guard down. He has done this from the 1st day I got him and nothing has stopped this. In fact he got me in the chin just 2 months ago. He is such a big cute boy you get lulled into a false sense of security and then wham! The bite! And he always draws blood and leaves nice marks for a week. Sweet Teddy however, bites nowhere else but the face! This little ferret is biting for several reasons. He was taken from his mother too young and is probably not very socialized, he is definately scared and very nervous. If you are a 1st time ferret owner he may be too much for you to handle (just my opinion). Visit a shelter and see if there is ferret there that you would love to adopt. Lisa Vible AFA Educational Director Oxford Ferret Rescue Volunteer [Posted in FML issue 5379]