>A. They are not suitable for pets if you have very young children. They >should always be supervised when playing with children. Ferrets and >children are both excitable. When ferrets get excited they play by jumping, David Ellis wrote a great response to a gentleman who inquired about ferrets as pets. I enjoyed reading the post; however, I wished to express my opinion/experiences regarding the above. I would rather have said something like "Ferrets are not suitable to be pets for very young children." In fact, I really don't think there is any pet that should be owned by a young child as we all know who *really* will be taking care of the pet and the adult needs to totally understand that fact. Aside from that, I'd also concede that there are pets that are much easier for a young child to interact with. Ferrets are excitable, may nip out of play...and (even worse) are easy for a young child to accidentally hurt. (Visualize a young child hopping about on the floor with a ferret...then imagine that young child losing their footing as happens constantly with toddlers and preschoolers.) However, I don't think it would be unsuitable for a parent of a young child (or toddler or baby) to own a ferret. As a mother of a young child (2 yrs) and a mother who plans to have more children, I think the most important thing is to understand not only a ferret's temperament and limitations but also those of the child(ren) involved. I believe ferrets and children can live happily and joyfully in the same household. But I think that to expect to have free-roaming ferrets in such a household would be not just possibly dangerous for the kids but most certainly dangerous for the ferrets. (I don't believe a 2 yr old would purposely kill a ferret...but there are many things which a 2 yr would do that would kill the ferret whether it was intended or not. For example, my son loves to put things in the toilet and flush...it's a natural thing for a 2 yr old to do but could be disasterous if the "thing" was a ferret.) Anyway, I just feel that there's nothing unsuitable about having a ferret in a household with young children/babies...as long as the parent is educated and responsible. I do think it's important to warn potential owners of the conflicts that would arise in such a household, and for that reason, I'm glad that David mentioned that aspect of ferrets. We just slightly disagree on how to draw the line I think. A note to BIG: If this is an explosive topic, please don't post. I don't wish to cause conflict, and only wanted to share my opinion/experiences... not promote an arguement. Thanks. Kim F mailto:[log in to unmask] [Moderator's note: I don't notice much conflict here... BIG] [Posted in FML issue 2169]