I am way behind, but have a few comments. Allergies - I do one other thing in addition to the HEPA vaccuum bags and HEPA filters in the house. Having a canister vac, I point the exhuast of the vac toward the HEPA filter for a 2nd chance at catching dust. This involves dragging around two things when you vaccuum, but I find it works. Breeder's Ethics - Bill, I sorry to say that I am not surprised about what you have seen and heard. I have heard similar, just look at the post after yours. Baby has diareaha and bad case of fleas. I don't see how a breeder could miss either. Would like to suggust to potential owners, to look closely at both the babies you are thinking of adopting AND THE ADULTS in the house. In my opinion (BIG start editing here if you want), a big red flag should go up in your mind if you see problems or if the breeder won't let you see the adults. Handle an adult, look at the temperment of the parents, look for fleas, look in the litter boxes, look at the food being used, ask questions, get references. Afterall, you are going to pay your good money for a baby you hope to keep for a number of years. The bottom line is that people adopting babies decide who will be a breeder. Get your babies from the good breeders and not the bad. As hard as it may be, walk away from a bad breeder and the babies. By buying their babies, you allow them to keep breeding. Keep in mind that YOU DESERVE AND SHOULD DEMAND a healthy, well-manered baby. Everyone on the FML is well educated about ferrets, you know what should and shouldn't be going on in a breeder's house even if you aren't one. (Of course this poses the problem of what else do you do when you find what you think is a bad breeder.) The baby may cost more from a good breeder (I am told often that mine do). Ask why. Look at what the breeder offers. In my opinion (again) there should be some money back time frame, appropriate distemper shots should be included, some agreement about spay/nueter should be included, and some health guarentee should be included. You should find that this offsets the higher prices. Age of kit when adopted - This may be a bombshell but I am going to throw it anyway while we are on the subject. I have seen a numer of cases on the FML when someone has gotten a baby from a breeder at 4 weeks or so. I would like to suggest that you leave the baby with his/her mom until she desides that it is time to stop nursing. (A person who gets a baby from a pet does not have this option that is available with a breeder.) Most of my moms nurse until the babies are 6-7.5 weeks old (it seems, the larger the litter the earlier the wean). I have the feeling that some of the size difference we see with the pet store ferrets that is attributed to the early spay/neuter may be caused by not letting the baby nurse long enough. The gods designed mom's milk to be the best thing for a growing baby (human or ferret). It contains anti-bodies and guarenteed proper nutrition for the baby. Why would you give the baby something else instead? Now don't get me wrong, I do supplement the babies with mush when they start getting into mom's food bowl, but they still nurse while they eat mush. I point out that I have no scientific evidence of this theory and could be way off base. Then again, don't I see why some breeders don't let kits go until they are 10, 11, 12, 14, or 16 weeks old like some I know. FYI - We let kits go when they are 8 weeks old so 1) we know they are done nursing and 2) we can include the first distemper shot. I guess it boils down to each breeder has reasons (or should have reasons) for what they do. Ask about them. Make sure that you agree with or at least accept the breeder's policies. I know Mitch has more comments on this subject, so there will be another post. -Kathleen Cheeseman 1/2 of Dancing Bottom Ferrets Woodbridge, VA [Posted in FML issue 1282]