Hi everyone: I have something of a dilemma going on that I could use some help with. Some of you may remember that I lost my boy Marshmallow earlier this year. He was the alpha of my four (the other three are girls). It goes without saying that I miss that little guy every day, and I can tell my other ferrets miss him too. No one seems to have stepped up to the challenge of being the alpha, and as a group they seem fairly fragmented. So, I was *contemplating* getting another male. I realize that just because Marsh was male doesn't guarantee another male will take the alpha role. Anyhow, I wouldn't be getting one for a few more months yet (I gave myself a six month waiting period to decide if I was ready), but I had some questions that I needed answered. First off, I have two 4 year olds and a 3 year old. One of the four year olds has insulinoma, controlled with surgery last July and meds. She's been pretty stable since surgery (knock wood). Would I be risking too much (ie ECE, that type of thing) by bringing in a new ferret? I would be destroyed if I got another ferret and ended up losing one of the girls because of something the newbie brought in. I know the importance of testing for giardia, etc, and quarantines for bringing ferrets into established colonies, but I still worry about making my established ferrets ill. Also, would it be too much stress on the girls to bring in a kit? Again, I don't want to get a kit that through nothing other than being a baby, stresses out the girls too much. That train of thought makes me lean towards a single shelter ferret around a year old, but then I worry about finding a single ferret at a shelter that would accept 3 cagemates. Am I overanalyzing the situation? I'm trying really hard to break myself of that habit when it comes to the kids. I knew I was overdoing it when my vet told me I worry too much. ;-) Any insight would be appreciated, Laura, Gatsby, Saffy, Xena Marshmallow at the Bridge [Posted in FML issue 2614]