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]