It all depends on your situation. They do require a good deal of work to not stink up your whole house, (though if you have 6 at once like I did, it’s going to happen anyway) They also are very social critters that need lots of attention and interaction. They usually sleep 18-20 hours a day but when they are awake they’re like the aftermath of 2 year olds who’ve been been given about 5 lbs of candy each, and they’re going to want to play with YOU. As far as how many, that depends on you. If you don’t have at least 3-4 hours a day to be able to play with them, get 2, so they can keep each other occupied, though you still need to spend some time interacting with them every day.

If your serious about ferrets then get ‘ferrets for dummies’ even though I hate for dummies books. It’ll actually let you know what your getting yourself in to, and what problems you can expect down the road as far as cancers and other ailements that afflict aging ferrets.