Steve mentioned ferret pinatas with raisins and dried cranberries inside... What an idea! They could be of some sort of safe material just in case some is ingested, and interchangably hung from a string on a pole. We have not found that our crew is much impressed with those plastic balls that can "leak" treats, but with what many of them enjoy we could imagine this going over well. Hmmmmmmmm... I wonder if the material from which Cheweasels are made could be formed into a hollow ball shape, or alternatively, what sorts of paper products would not cause any type of blockage hazard... Charlie Weiss's tape is not ONLY of how cryosurgery is done. It's got a lot of diagnostic info, other surgical info and so on. It's an affordable way for a vet who is not a ferret vet to learn essentials easily --which can make all the difference, or for vets who are ferret vets to learn something new without the cost of a seminar or of travel. Go to http://www.ferretdoctor.com/ There are several thing that swellings in necks can be. Of course, something could be growing there, but that seems to be rare from what I have read on the FML over the last dozen years. Many ferrets DO have fat tend to accumulate there, which can make it hard at times to know what is being felt. There are also lymph nodes there. Like in humans nodes can become inflamed from a range of things -- anywhere from milder infections which will pass, to bad infections, to something serious like lympho. Also, if it's an infection it could be a small localized one or a systemic one, so other node locations should be checked. In addition, people tend to notice nodes more before they find what's normal for a given individual (Meeteetse has "popped" nodes which have always been protuberant and has also always had a rapid heart rate, yet at over 7 years she's still going strong.) If unsure then see the vet and also have the vet show you to axillary and poplitial nodes (Let's not trust my spelling today, okay?) for future reference and monitoring. Steve and I aren't vets, of course, but this is some stuff we learned from them. Another Debbie question: it pays to stay away from the arguments of others. Been here a LONG time. Sometimes people who on the surface seem wonderful have some things they do off-list which would raise the hairs on a person's neck. Sometimes hearing BOTH sides of the story gives a totally different perspective. Know that sometimes you seem a bit innocent of things that can happen on lists, and have been here pretty well FOREVER. It pays to stay away from disagreements unless BOTH sides are known and so on. Otherwise, it is just too easy to get accidentally caught in the middle and that can really hurt. So, just take this as warning form someone who has learned a number of things to hard way over the years so that you can avoid similar pains. It's friendly warning --like when someone who has stubbed a toe on a particular protrusion tells the others coming later about that problem. I am REALLY enjoying the hard information from the recent FMLs, a trend which June continued beautifully today. [Posted in FML issue 2963]