Our's eat rose petals, too, each chance they get so we have to remove them
to a safe place.  Worst thing we have seen is runs from too much vegetable
matter.  (Now, if only THOSE smelled like roses...) Anyone know anything
more?  Make sure that they are clean, as I expect that you have.  As you
pointed out: Rose petals are actually used in cooking and make a great
jam -- kind of like Beach Plum jam, but better.
 
When getting past hand feeding we have crunchies handy at all times for the
ferret, and we often sneak up and stand still to watch because it is NOT
unusual for a recovering ferret to be sneaking hard crunchies and not
letting us know it -- very common to take them under something and try to
crunch softly.  Cute as that is, we find that typically the best way to
get less dependent eating going is to discover them at at and then praise
them to the skies without moving them; after a while they decide that
eating crunchies is a sure fire way to get attention!
 
Sherman is a slow introduction; with him connecting his tail stub to pain
it's hard to get him to not panic when others try to say hello in their
most polite ferret form.  It will work but will take longer.  We find it
interesting to see how he moves differently not having a tail - more like
a bear at times and like a deer at others than like a ferret.
[Posted in FML issue 3274]