Q: "I have read lots of your stuff and have tried many times to get my
ferrets to eat it, but it always ends up that I spend money on stuff they
won't eat.  Either help me out or pay for the food, bub!"
 
A: Bub?  As in Beelezebub?  The prince of Baal?  The lord of the dunghill?
The hot guy in the red suit?  Gasp, I've been found out!  Bob?  Bub?
Coincidence?  You be the judge...
 
You are not the only person with that problem and to be honest, it may not
be fixable.  The problem is not the *food* but the ferret.  Ferrets have an
unusually short period of time in which they imprint on their foods and
after that time, it can be very difficult-if not impossible-to get them to
accept changes.  This imprinting is not visual; its olfactory; that is,
they imprint on the *SMELL* of their foods.  The period of time is short;
most ferrets imprint in the first 3 to 6 months, and after a year they must
be *taught* what is good to eat because they WILL NOT associate the new
food smell with the idea that it should go into the mouth to be swallowed.
Most ferrets can be taught to eat strange foods, but there are always the
few that stubbornly refuse to try new stuff.
 
With a kit or young juvenile, they assume you are mommy bringing home the
bacon, so will readily try most stuff you offer.  This is the time when a
little extra effort will cure many problems later.  Offer them a good diet,
but each day or two, offer something different; different dry foods, wet
cat and ferret foods, chicken, fish, turkey, etc.  Frozen mice or pinkies
are good, as are poultry hatchlings and soft-boiled eggs (raw egg whites
have a protein which binds to iron, causing anemia).  The goal is to try
and expand the ferret's olfactory horizons so that they will be open to new
foods later on.  This is the only effective method to insure the ferret
will be open to dietary changes down the road.
 
If it is too late, it may not be impossible to make changes.  Like people,
some ferrets are more open to new foods than others, especially once they
understand the stuff is edible.  I take two lines of attack.  First, I
attempt to make the new food SMELL like the old one.  There are a number of
ways this can be done, such as grinding up the old food and mixing it with
the new, covering the new food with a liquid treat (ferretone or honey), or
adding small amounts of the new food to the old and gradually changing the
ratios until replaced.  These will ALL work, even with stubborn cases, but
it takes lots of time and energy, and you can expect to have food wasted
until it is grudgingly accepted.
 
The other plan of attack is to teach the ferret the food is good.  This
works best with a ferret that has had a day of fasting, so is hungry enough
to be interested.  (BTW, many people have asked me why their ferret isn't
eating new foods, and many have admitted the old food is still in abundance
during the introduction.  Like where is the incentive?) In teaching new
ferrets to like chicken, I place a hungry ferret on my lap, and take small
bit from my mouth and offer them.  I *rub* the chicken on their nose and
lip, so they taste it as they lick the nose clean.  If not working, I will
sometimes put the food directly into their mouths.  This will usually work,
but again, it takes time.  Hint: ferrets, like people, usually like things
that are not good for them, so sweeten the food with a small amount of
jelly or honey.  Mine *love* grape jelly.
 
The point is, it takes time and effort to make the changes.  DO NOT expect
the task to be easy or fast.  You just have to keep trying until you force
the ferret to form new food imprints, which may take some time.  I honestly
believe most ferrets will come around if the effort is great enough.
 
Bob C and 20 Mo' Jelly Licking Fools
[Posted in FML issue 2540]