To Lauren and whoever else; I agree absolutely with you about pet shops needing to supply more information about ferrets (indeed-all pets) to possible buyers. I have worked in pet shops in Illinois, California, and England; big shops and little, and have had lots of experience with not only ignorant customers, but ignorant pet shop owners and managers. (Ignorant here means lack of knowledge, not willfull stupidity.) Up-to-date, accurate info sheets on all animals that go out the door would be a wonderful thing, but more wonderful would be knowledgable employees who will tell the customer the truth about an animal, in order to ensure a good and responsible home, as opposed to the employee who says what the customer wants to hear in order to get a sale. There are also pet shop owners who don't care, do whatever is cheapest for them, and don't see to the animal's health or happiness. Such as keep ferrets in aquariums alone, on pine shavings, and put the spare ferret in another such cage, in the back room, on a dark shelf. Or keep a parrot in a cage with no toys...(you get the idea) I have worked for owners like that, and it doesn't matter what you say, what proof you give, even if you offer to do the extra work. They don't care. There are also those customers who will ask you what you think and then argue with you on every point, saying they have a friend or relative who does something different and THEIR animal is just fine. I guess my point is that no one person or place is ever to blame for someone's ignorance except that person who chooses not to learn. Some of us have tried mightily to no avail with both owners and customers, and I have outright lied about a ferret kit to keep it from going to a person that was very obviously not going to give it a good home. (I just told him the kit was too young and needed a couple more weeks, by which time a responsible two-ferret person came in and bought it.) I have offered books, pamphlets, phone numbers, etc., to which I was told, "Maybe next week." I could go on and on with specific horror stories, but I won't. I quit working in pet shops because I couldn't deal with the frustration. Sorry this went so long, but just wanted to share my perspective. Ferret kisses to all, Chris-owned by Willow, Smudge, Cricket, Jasmine, and Silly the long suffering Lab [Posted in FML issue 1360]