To Robert Galvin and Miranda: Robert - it sound an awful lot like she is having recurrent bouts of gastric ulceration and may have a persistent case of Helicobacter. This behavior is fairly common with ferrets with Helicobacter. You just keep feeding her by hand. I would suggest a 2-4 week bout of amoxicillin and Pepto-Bismol tablets (1/15 every six hours.) Tarry stools are a sign of bleeding in the GI tract, and it usually is due to gastric ulcers. Check the Ferret FAQ and this month's issue of Modern Ferret for more information, and make sure to tlk this over with your vet. Bruce Williams, DVM [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1206]