IMHO, ferrets and birds do NOT mix.  Considering birds are *not* natural prey
of any of the wild ferrets, I have no idea why this is true, but they are
even less trustworthy than cats, who can learn to tolerate birds, especially
as kittens.
 
Our first budgie, Caesar, one day got out of his cage and thought he'd say hi
to the ferrets.  I think maybe the ferrets just thought he was a toy, because
they didn't eat him.  But they did pull him into their cage and no more
budgie.  We were hysterical and heartbroken when we came home.  My suggestion
is -- either keep the ferret cage in a separate room from the bird, behind a
closed door, or make sure the bird couldn't be caught by the ferrets if he
wandered to close -- even if he couldn't be pulled into the cage, he could be
severely wounded if the ferrets got a leg or a wing.  My husband built a
second enclosure to go around the ferrets' cage so that their mouths can't
get anywhere near anything that might come close, since we have only two
rooms in a shared house and don't want any of the animals in the bedroom.
This is all just to prevent unforeseen accidents -- mostly just make sure you
*always* live by the policy `ferrets out, birds in'.  They're not compatible,
but that doesn't mean you can't have and love both.  We have a budgie and a
Senegal parrot now, and not even any near catastrophes -- I think the birds
are too high up for the ferrets to even notice.  The birds sure do think the
ferrets are interesting to watch, though.
 
Laura
 
Laura L'Heureux Kupkee
U. of Illinois Vet Med Class of `96
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[Posted in FML issue 1076]