One of our ferrets died overnight from a freak accident and I've been beating myself up about it all day. We have two groups of ferrets and they have to take turn playing in their room due to personality conflicts amongst the two groups. Our group of 5 usually is out in the evening and the group of 4 stays out from late evening until the morning. Having lost a ferret in a freak accident 3 years ago, we have since diligently ferret proofed their room and they dont go anywhere else in the house. Last night I let the group of 4 out. Amongst their toys is a plastic container that their food is stored in. One of the handles has been broken for a long time, which I didnt see as a problem until this morning. Our ferret, George (who was the most non-curious ferret in our bunch), got himself wedged between the container and the lid. Best I can figure is his legs were too short to reach the ground and push the lid off of him and he wasnt strong enough to pull himself all the way into the box. Basically he hung himself and was half hanging out of the box this morning when I went to put them away. We have had George since last summer and could never have anticipated something like this happening. I dont understand why he even tried to get in there, as they had access to the food in their cage. I cannot even explain the horror of finding him that way this morning, and I cant stop thinking about what he must have gone through. How I have made it through work today I dont know. George was the first ferret we had who would just fall asleep in your arms. I loved taking him places because he would always sit quietly in his carry pack. Our niece babysat them back in December and took George to school one day after school to show her teacher and friends. He was her favorite. George had some issues with his legs where they would splay out from under him, especially on a slippery surface. The vet took Xrays and didnt find anything unusual about it. I wonder if his weaker legs actually prevented him from saving himself. I cant stop thinking about all the what-if's--what if I had checked on them during the night? (which we never do) Losing a ferret this way is so much worse than losing one who has been sick. You cant help but blame yourself for it. I guess thats all I wanted to say. Thanks for listening. Becky and Heather [Posted in FML issue 4812]