My, My, I must be getting brave. After lurking for so long i've actually posted several times...Wow. I think we're taking teh exotic thing a bit too seriosly> We know very well ferrets are not wild and havn't been in a while, and so do most ppl. Those who don't surely need education, but i don't think the classification of the animal makes such a difference. Sugar Gliders and McCaws ARE newly domesticate/often wild caught (respectivly) but for veterinary purposes, and the animal "trade" in general may animals are considered exotic...even gerbils, hamsters, rats and mice. Ever try to find a vet that would treat a rat?!? "I'm sorry we don't treat exotics". Basically I think that exotic happends when teh pet industtry wants a "quick buck' and markets a "new" animal as a "cool" "popular" or "in" thing to have. Sadly this is why so many ferrets and other 'exotics' end up in shelters or dumped or neglected....but it's not just ferrets. In my experiece ANY exotic animal, or any animal classified as such has problems..and many of the same (see Iguanas that pl buy cuz they're vegetarians and they think easier to care for and cheaper, also animals that grow 5-6FEET long owners unequipped to deal with it and the animal gets dropped off, killed, or just plain dies of neglect) The exotic industry, imo exploits animals, pure and simple. I have even recently seen threads on NGS about "smallest rabbit in the world" where some guy decided to caputre, breed, and sel Pikas...animals with a many square mile range in the wild, as a rabbit you can keep in a 20 gallon aquarium. We need to stop domesticating and start educating... Not just for our ferrets, for they surely are domestic, but for ALL exotic animals..cuz when ppl think they're "cool" they'll get them..and the animal pays. [Posted in FML issue 2319]