Taking a more mustelidaemorphic view of things, a ferret as an animal has certain needs. Bob Church's regular postings on enrichment have illustrated this very clearly. It is the responsibility of a pet owner to provide for those needs. Every day isn't perfect, that's a given. But those needs shouldn't be dismissed lightly or regularly. If a ferret is an animal that needs a certain amount of physical and mental exercise every day and an owner cannot routinely provide the time and opportunity for that exercise, then I think the owner should really consider whether ferrets are really the best pet for them. When you get a dog, you do so knowing that the dog needs to go outdoors at regular intervals every single day, rain or shine, whether you feel good or not. It's no different for a ferret, except that the consequences of not letting a ferret out of its cage are less messy than the consequences of not getting the dog out of the house regularly and hence easier to ignore. I don't usually step into these kinds of discussions, but I feel strongly about this. I don't cage at all and feel that I have had happier, healthier ferrets for it, but I can understand that for some people, circumstances do require cages. However, a cage is a convenience for the owner, not a preferred lifestyle choice for the ferret. A responsible ferret owner has to meet the ferret partway and understand that as a specific type of animal it has specific needs. That is the responsibility of taking any kind of animal at all into your home. They are what they are, and our needs and wishes and convenience won't change that. Regards, Regina Badriya al-Badi'a, Raqs Sharqi and Gothic Belly Dance: http://users.rcn.com/badriya/ "Beauty will be convulsive, or it will not be at all." --Andre Breton [Posted in FML 5749]