I know in cats "declawing" actually involves amputation of the first joint. Is this the case in ferrets? Ours are descented and altered (I know, I should call a spayed a spayed) but I don't think that declawing them would be such a good idea. I noticed that someone had posted that theirs was declawed: did you buy them like this or choose to do it after? We really haven't had a problem with clawing or destructive digging. We clip their nails about every two to three weeks: Linatone on the tummy does it.... To Chris: No no, keep your ferrets.. I said that our ferrets stop doing things like dirt digging when they realize it IS allowed, taboo digging only intrigues them further, increases their determination, and NOTHING is more determined than a determined ferret. To Stan & Rena: Sorry to hear of your loss: I can empathize too closely for comfort. In a similar moment (2 minutes) of innattention a sweet although deaf and mostly blind ferret we were caring for received fatal scalds in a running bathtub. Awful feeling. You really can't be too careful for the inquisitive sweeties. The loss has strengthened our resolve to provide a home for "problem" or abandoned ferrets in our area. They do need special care. And for Manuel, I'm 28, Carolyn is 26, and our two carpet sharks are Pepper (2, sweet, smart and finky) and Biff (1, huge, fat, not-too-bright, fastidiously picky about litter boxes: "Hey! I can _smell_ yesterdays stuff in here... I'm gonna go in the living room where it's _clean_, here, by the ferret-phobic houseguest...") Steve [Posted in FML issue 1345]