Hello all-- I am so proud!! My Muddler finally grew soft fur. He turned one year old last month, and about two weeks later he suddenly had the softest bunny- like fur I've ever felt on a ferret. I thought he'd have lousy fur forever, and he's never been sick or anything. I guess all that good food and ferretone paid off. After reading the Petco horror stories, I was afraid to look at the ferrets in the one near me. Well, I was there to look at a ferret cage (bought it!) and their ferrets were in a large, clean cage with 4 water bottles, plenty of food and Carefresh bedding. I'm sure the way animals are treated in a store depends on the manager. Hooray for at least one good Petco (Clackamas, OR) Trace does the lick lick chomp thing, too. Absolutely no other behavior problems, and she doesn't do it very often. I just gently blow on her nose when she starts up, and she seems to be doing it less. I think she started doing that with my Dad, and he let her get away with it... --Michelle, mommy to Trace and the Muddler [Posted in FML issue 2492]