I think the very best thing you could do is to help this young woman find a ferret shelter to surrender her babies to. This is an awful lot on the plate for someone so young, living on her own. I can't even begin to imagine what life must be like for her. She's probably done her best to look after these babies and let's hope that they haven't been too neglected. How at 17, on your own, can you even afford to feed 4 ferrets? Encourage her to surrender them to an appropriate facility. At least they'll be safe and looked after and may even find a good home. And her burden for their care will be gone - as it should. Tressie A. Dutchyn, MA ID PhD student, Dalhousie University Research Associate Atlantic Interdisciplinary Research Network for Social & Behavioral Issues Hepatitis C & HIV/AIDS Department of Community Health & Epidemiology Faculty of Medicine Dalhousie University [Posted in FML 5789]