Hi Linda, welcome to the list & the oddities of ferrets and ferret owners!
 
You've probably set off a bomb on the list.  "Ferret Collectors" is a
subject that really gets some of us on a warpath. :)
 
As for how many ferrets one person can handle... neither you nor I can say,
since we don't have unlimited experience, nor do we have the right stir up
public opinion over something we don't have any experience with.  Just
because I (or you) couldn't handle it doesn't mean that NO ONE can.
 
Just for grins I'll tell you, from personal experience, 50 ferrets is a
breeze (for me).  105 ferrets is a 60 hour a week full time job.  Been
there, done that, DON'T want to do it again.  (The t-shirts they give out
pretty stinky!)
 
With 50 ferrets, it's not the same as your cuddlesome, romping less than 10
free-roaming fuzzies.  50 ferrets, in cages, is 4 or 5 barricaded play
areas, a rotating play schedule, a $5000+ annual vet bill, 2 hour morning &
2 hour evening box scooping/cage cleaning, lots of litter, lots of food,
large trashbag size laundry loads twice a week, 30 minutes medication
preparation time in morning and again in the evening.  Two hours once a
week for nail trimming, another two hours once a week for ear cleaning,
another hour once a week for hairball remedy, and three hours once a month
for heartworm medication.  It requires a ferret owner that knows enough
about ferret health to spot illnesses early.  It requires a vet who trusts
the owner's experience and capabilities enough to dispense medications for
home use and is certain enough of the owner's knowledge that he is
comfortable diagnosing & prescribing preliminary treatment over the phone
to save the owner clinic expense.  There IS time, amongst all that to climb
into a play area & sit down in the middle of a fuzzy romp... but NOT with
EVERY playgroup, EVERY day.  These parameters are pretty much the MINIMUM
required time & expense items for 50 ferrets.
 
(THAT, by the way, is what a SHELTER is... that's why surrendering a ferret
to a shelter should be the LAST resort.  A REAL shelter is populated by 70%
to 85% UNADOPTABLE ferrets... sick, elderly, behavior disorders.)Truely, an
adoptable ferret has no business being in a shelter... in most cases, it's
not unlike a prison sentence... in NO case is it better than being in a
loving home.  There are quite a few "adoption referal shelters" that take
them in a cycle them back out within a period of a few weeks irregardless
of health or behavior problems.  That's ok, too... as long as they go to a
home that's aware of and prepared to deal with the problems.
 
I currently have 21 free roaming ferrets.  And I DO have time for each one
almost every day.  Some of them (ferret personalities vary a great deal)
would just as soon that I didn't scoop them up from what they were doing
just get a cuddle.  Others will follow me around the house until I stop &
pick them up.
 
And just for grins again... I spent over $8000 on my 20 some-odd ferrets in
 maintenance & medical expense last year. (I DO get discounts from vets &
 suppliers.)
 
Debi Christy
Ferrets First Foster Home
[Posted in FML issue 3409]