I don't know if I'm doing this correctly, but hopefully by typing this I'm making a contribution to the ferret mailing list. If not, somone, please let me know how to do it. I have four ferrets ranging from about five to three years old (I feel bad- I don't remember their exact ages. It's tough enough remembering when who needs to go to the vet for what or who didn't get their raisins for the evening!). Their names are Smidgeon, Gherkin, Wookie, and Nougat. I wanted to briefly mention a couple of things: 1- My ferrets are all Marshall Farms ferrets from a pet shop, and seem fine to me. I hear a lot of talk insinuating that Marshall Farms ferrets are somehow "inferior" or people who get Marshall Farms ferrets are somehow "not real" ferret lovers. I couldn't love my boys more and feel sorry for ferrets born under poor breeder conditions. 2- My oldest, Smidge, is due to be scheduled for adrenal surgery as he has unexplained balding and urinary problems. He seems healthy despite this, and I am very glad that my vet is very confident in her adrenal surgery skills. I read so many sad stories on this list that make me want to cry and hope (selfishly) that I will not have to tell any. 3- Question-Do most of you have scheduled times you let your ferrets out and only let them out in limited areas? I think we started out wrong by letting ours have the run of the house while we're home. As a result, we can't have anything on end tables or coffee tables and our ferrets have completely claimed our dresser. Please post your "daily routine", especially if you work or have kids so I have an idea what the norm is! I don't have kids yet, but when we finish our basement I plan on giving the ferrets their own room and build a whole play area for them and only take them into the general population for a shorter period of time. Well- I took up enough space- nice talking with you and I hope to make some new friends here! -- Dawn [Posted in FML issue 2860]