Ferret vaccination sites: About where to give vaccinations. The skin on the shoulders and neck is the thickest skin on a ferret. Avoiding that area to give it shot because you can't scruff the ferret doesn't make sense - if you scruff the ferret it naturally pulls the skin up so going subcutenaous is easy. However because of the thickness of the skin the act of pushing the needle in is harder and I would suspect more painful. Several people in the ferret world have taken to given the shots back by the rear thigh - the skin wouldn't be as hard to penetrate and there is anecdotal evidence by some that there is a smaller risk of reaction. I have no hard evidence on the reactions. If a single person is giving the shot it is probably easiest to scruff the ferret and put the needle through the neck. A vet could probably prove or refute this however. Descnting a ferret: In most cases descenting a ferret is a waste of time and money as well as a needless mutilation of an animal. The anal scent glands are normally only used when a ferret is really frightened or agitated. The day to day smell of a ferret is related mostly to the reproductive cycle. A neutered or spayed ferret will smell far better than a whole animal. I guarantee that descenting your ferret will not affect the normal smells of the animal in virtually every case. There are medical problems that might require such an operation but they are not common. Feeling got hurt last time this topic came up because people misunderstood the almost never part of that statement - sometimes it is a usefull operation but it usually is not. What you should do to reduce the smells of a ferret will NOT completely solve the smell problem. Regular bathing will help but overbathing will make it worse. Probably not more than monthly possibly less is fine if the rest of the cleaning is done. Regularly clean the cages, litterboxes and bedding of a ferret. When a ferret is bathed pay particular attention to the face and ears - most of the scent comes from glands around the face. You will not make the ferret scentless - if that is unacceptable you can't have a ferret - sad but true. I LIKE the smell of ferrets. The musky smell of a neutered animal is pleasnt to me - not the litterbox odors but the oils from the facial glands. Marshall Farms: Marshall Farms is not a ferret mill in the same sense as puppy mills. You would not like all of what Marshall Farms does but the alternative is worse. If Marshall Farms was to disappear the market for ferrets would not go down but smaller operations would be formed to take its place. These would be like the ferret mills. They could not afford the onsite veterinary services. They could not provide as good a diet. Their would still be a demand for research animals. Somebody would breed them - there are people to do anything that involves money. The ferret mills that would inevitably form would still have the problem of what to do with ferrets that could no longer be 'productive'. We can wish all we want but money and profit are the main reasons people do anything. Real world economics dictate that somethings that are not pleasant will happen. Like them or not Marshall Farms is part of the world we live in. We won't get them shutdown. We need to co-operate with them because they ARE FERRETS to most of the country. [Moderator's note: A controversial subject to say the least, and Bill Killian's opinion is one of many. Other opinions are welcome as long as they are factual - no personal attacks will be posted! BIG] bill killian zen and the art of ferrets [Posted in FML issue 1304]