Laura wrote: >My mother has a dog, one Question......can the dog hurt the ferrets or do >ferrets get along?? You can never be too careful around a dog--some dogs are great, and some dogs will kill a ferret in an instant (someone, and I'm sorry I don't remember her name, had their ferret killed by a jack russell terrier recently). Altho' some breeds (like jack russells) are more likely to kill a small animal, you cannot tell by breed alone. My first ferret was almost killed by a neighbor's shepherd mix, yet I had a shepherd mix of my own who was very good with my ferrets. I introduced my first dog to ferrets as a puppy, but I've also had 2 dogs who were introduced as adults and who were/are fine around them. It really depends on the dog, but you must be extremely careful around any dog you do not know. If something happens to your ferret, it doesn't matter whose "fault" it is--you can't bring back a ferret after they've been killed. >I give them their entire room to run around during the day - couldn't I >just let them go to sleep whenever they wanted ??? I had my first ferret for a few years before I knew that some people kept them in cages; personally, I don't keep my ferrets caged. Right now I have a couple of ferret rooms. The ferrets eat, sleep, play when they want, where they want, with whoever they want to, etc. The only down side I can think of is that if you needed to get them out in an emergency it would be easier if they were caged. A while ago there was a brief thread on whether ferrets build nests. While I agree that ferrets aren't nest-builders per se, I have several who are always dragging newspaper into their sleep areas. Often they tear up the paper and pull it into a hammock, drawer, box, or wherever else they may be sleeping. I agree that it's not like a mouse who goes through a lot of trouble to build a nest and then sleeps in it regularly. But I find this bit of homemaking very endearing; it also crosses the male/female line--Vivaldi from New Jersey is very much into making these nests for himself and his female roommates. --Ronnie [Posted in FML issue 3600]