Jon..... The best way to see if you are allergic to ferrets is to actually play with one for a while. The pet store will most likely let you do this. I am extremely allergic to cats but don't have any problems with ferrets.....but I have heard of other people who are allergic to cats AND ferrets. I think it depends on the individual so your best bet is just to check it out. Ferrets still have a musky odor after they are descented. They really don't have much of an odor but you can smell it. I gave mine a bath about every two weeks and by the end of that period I could definitely smell her. The odor is stronger if they are excited a lot. I really didn't notice it but my boyfriend could tell if I had been holding her. The bath part is really very simple.... I just put some water in the tub (mine liked to be able to touch bottom) and used a ferret shampoo from the store. It only took about 5 minutes. The tricky part was to get her to hold still to dry off....she always seemed to go ballistic after a bath to get some of her scent back. The main things that I had problems with were plants getting destroyed if within reach (and somehow there always seemed to be a way to reach them :-) ) and foam rubber or thin plastic that punctures easily.....oh...and insoles of shoes or leather shoes were fair game too. I have heard some of the people on this list talk about their ferrets being around their computer and not having a problem. I think it's one of those things that you just have to see about and if the ferret decides to chew it then find a way to keep it out of ferret reach(although this is difficult). Be very careful about the size of gaps between wires in the cage you get. I can't remember what size mine was but I had no escape attempts and when I moved to an illegal state I gave her to a friend who bought a cage that the gaps were only about 1/4" wider and she didn't have much of a problem escaping. Maybe someone else could supply good wire gap measurements. Anyway...good luck....... Deb [Posted in FML issue 0263]