The two main things brought up by Lynn seem very far against what seems to be standard practice amongst the breeders we know. Our opinion of course. Jills should be used for breeding or spayed. Hobs should be used for breeding or neutered. I'll ask some folks to be sure it isn't just my opinion but I'm pretty sure they'll agree. I have never heard of 'needing to relieve the sexual tension of hobs'. I see some point but not much. If a hob is not good enough to be bred then why is he not altered? Specifically regarding the second hob in situation. It is a common belief among the breeders we work with that the length of time a hob is with a jill will have some bearing on the litter size. It also will lead to kits not fully developed being born with fully developed kits. This second hob in might well father some kits leading to litters of mixed heritage. Not a good breeding practice. This is of course a belief based on anecdotal evidence not a proven fact. bill and diane killian zen and the art of ferrets [Posted in FML issue 1460]