Jennifer, A ferret is such a wonderful, loving, fantastic pet but you must be prepared for the amount of work and attention a pet ferret needs (they are not cage animals). And you must also prepare yourself for ferret math! Hum you say, whats that?? Well, as I am sure everyone on this list can attest to, is once you have one you MUST have more and more and more! I started out with my 1st one in May 2004, 2nd one June, 3rd one July, 4th one Aug (all purchased from a great pet store in Hockessin , De.). Then I adopted one from Oxford Ferret Rescue in Oct (a baby) and I just adopted an older boy (4-5 Years old) on Xmas eve from Oxford. I just cant express how much I love all my boys. Besides my family they are what I live for. They bring me such joy and happiness that I cant imagine what my life was like before without them! How lonely I must have been before they came into my life. I long to see them when then I am at work, I miss them when I am not home, and I rush home to be with them. When I get home they hear my car pull into the garage and they run to the door to see me. And when I walk into the house they jump on my legs to pick them up and they kiss me and kiss me! My husband said that he never would have thought I could love my ferrets so much. My kids kick themselves because they were the ones who talked me into my 1st boy Sammy. They tease me and say that they wish they were my ferrets since they have it so good! LOL. They always say to me that I can't do enough for the boys! (Believe me my daughters are spoiled too!!!) Of course as they age they are very expensive. I read in the ferrets magazine that when you own a ferret you should expect at least several expensive surguries over their short lifetime. Now I have my boy Gus who is probably 5 but right now very healthly. He came in to Oxford Ferret Rescue through the Del SPCA. He is such a sweet loving boy. It took about 6 days to integrate him into the "herd" but finally he is sleeping in my last 2 boys' cage (Max & Cody) and loving it! I sneak peaks under the cage cover at bedtime and watch him in his sleep licking the boys ears and snuggling up to them. It brings tears to my eyes and I am so glad I could give him a loving home with friends for him to love and be loved by for however long he has on the earth. This uncondtional love and trust is what I treasure in my ferrets and why I will give them the best possible home and the most love I can for as long as they are with me. If you do get a ferret you will understand all this and come to treasure every minute you will share with you fuzzies. Please check out your local shelter as another FMLer mentioned, either Rockys or Oxford before you go to your local pet store. I can put you in touch with either of these shelters where they have many loving ferrets in need of a good home. (Email me anytime.) Lisa, Sammy, Teddy, Casper, Max, Cody & Gus Gus [Posted in FML issue 4744]