Ponds: with ponds a more likely infectious concern would be giardia, same as with aquaria. It's not unusual for ferrets to get giardia from fish tanks and so on. There would be other things to weigh, too, for instance, the eating of some types of cyanobacter (commonly called Bluegreen "algae" though it is closer to bacteria) over time has been linked to later liver and intestinal illnesses including malignancies. In relation to West Nile (which they can potentially get as per below): http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG800 >While ferrets can potentially contract it, no cases have been reported >as far as I can tell. Ferrets likely do not come in contact with >Culex mosquitoes terribly commonly. Birds appear to be the most likely >reservoir of infection, with humans and horses serving as dead-end >hosts. This is classic or many of the other arboviruses like VEE and >WEE, and ferrets really play no part in the spread of those >encephalitides either. > >Not something that should keep you up at night. > >With kindest regards, > >Bruce Williams, DVM Syringe feeding: due to encountering too many cases of aspiration pneumonia the vets who post to the FHL usually advise NOT syringe feeding, BUT when it is unavoidable the rule of thumb is to *have the treating vet or one of the vet's trusted techs give hands on instruction*. Aspiration pneumonia can be fatal. There are multiple tricks for helping a sick ferret eat -- especially patient finger feeding while softly speaking or singing to the ferret -- which should be tried first. -- Sukie (not a vet) Ferret Health List http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth FHL Archives http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org International Ferret Congress http://www.ferretcongress.org [Posted in FML issue 4950]