>From:    Lady SongSpring Ishanna <[log in to unmask]>
>... just seems to not want to eat that much.  He eats what he has
>to, then dumps the rest of the bowl.  Between him and Dizzy (she digs out
>the other food bowl) I can't keep a dish filled!  Any suggestions on that?
 
If he isn't losing weight or showing any other symptoms of illness, chances
are he's eating all he needs to eat, and you shouldn't worry too much.
 
Taken from the FAQ (part 3, section 7.4):
 
A lot of ferrets like to dig in their food or water bowls.  If the bowls
are in contained areas and the ferrets are willing to eat off the floor,
the easiest solution is to provide a back-up water bottle and ignore the
digging.  You can also put the bowls in larger pans to contain the mess;
use separate pans for the food and water, so the spilled food doesn't get
soggy and spoil.
 
Heavy bowls that angle inward can help, or for more diligent water-bowl
diggers, you can switch to a bottle.  Likewise, some people find that a
J-type rabbit feeder works well for food, though others find that just
gives their ferrets a lot more food to joyfully spread around the room.  At
least one person used a PVC p-trap with a smaller opening instead.  Another
nearly dig-proof design is to put the food in a covered plastic
Tupperware-type container and cut a hole in the top just big enough for the
ferret's head.
 
Good luck!
 
--
- Pam Greene
Ferret Central <http://www.ferretcentral.org/> - FAQs, photos, and lots more!
    or ftp://ftp.optics.rochester.edu/pub/pgreene/
    or send INDEX FERRET in email to <[log in to unmask]>
[Posted in FML issue 2421]