Potential ferret owners be warned: They aren't for everyone. The animals are exotic, high-maintenance pets.

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Step into Angela and Valerie Smith's Atlanta living room, and 54 sensitive snouts know someone new has arrived.

Tiny faces with beady eyes and rounded ears peer through wire caging or over the edge of miniature hammocks. The cages sit in vertical stacks, like condos. They rise about 7 feet, and cover three walls.

Only a love of ferrets could explain this. Or a desire to help the mischievous, quick-footed creatures when their owners don't love them enough.

The Smiths, who founded a nonprofit ferret rescue six years ago, take in the small animals regardless of age, temperament or health. Each has a sad story.

Buster and Eddie were left in an apartment for a week without food. Victor, who softly wheezes, has lung cancer, possibly from sleeping on improper bedding. Toffee and Oscar were among 20 ferrets abandoned at once.

The Smiths have heard it all. They have firsthand experience with what happens when people fall for a trendy, cute pet in a store, then discover they own an exotic animal with particular needs.

"The cuteness wears off," Angela Smith said.

In Tucson, the nonprofit, no-kill group Ferret Friends Inc. currently has about 20 ferrets needing homes because people tend to buy them on impulse, says Robin Kladke, who handles adoptions for the group.

"People see the cute babies, buy them without doing research on them, take them home and all hell breaks loose," Kladke said.

Though ferrets typically are not accepted at shelters, the Humane Society of Southern Arizona will take them for a $10 intake fee (see box).

The best owners for ferrets are people who know what they're getting into, said Angela Smith.

"People who are prepared for a high-maintenance animal are best suited to adopt a ferret," says Kladke. "They are fun to have around, they provide entertainment value, but they come at a cost." For many, the amount of social time ferrets require cannot be met.

Ferrets are highly social and need to be a part of family life. They also smell a bit funky — something that often surprises new owners.

The Smiths got into the ferret business after purchasing their own pair — Thrasher and Weasel. On a trip to pick up some food, they ran into a man trying to return his ferret. The store wouldn't take it back. The Smiths decided their ferrets could use another friend and took it off his hands.

The rescue took off from that point. Once they reached 13, they obtained a state license. As part of that, they went door-to-door in their neighborhood, explaining what they planned to do.

Descended from European polecats, ferrets are part of the weasel family. They can live six to eight years, and weigh as much as three or four pounds.

They generally have a playful, impish personality. Although they like to lounge around — they need up to 20 hours of sleep daily — they need active play in between naps.

They have a naturally musky odor and are carnivores that require a high-fat, high-protein diet. After consulting with a vet, the Smiths began feeding their ferrets kitten food. They also get dried Cheerios cereal, which is good for their teeth.

Ferrets aren't for everyone.

Angela Smith has seen too many ferrets rejected once someone in the family complains they've taken in a little stink bomb.

"They're never as bad as dogs smell," Smith says.

Ferret Friends Inc. in Tucson is always looking for volunteers to help hand out information about ferret adoptions at local animal fairs, booths and stores.