Over the last several days I have seen numerous posts about getting ferrets
to switch foods.  I would like to add my name to the "successful switch"
list--after ONE YEAR!  The lesson here is that patience is what wins in the
end.  My seven ferts all came from different places.  Half liked TF and
half would only eat Marshall's.  Mixing the foods didn't work because they
would all pick out the pieces they wanted of each kind of food.  Mixing
them ahead of time in one sealed box didn't even work.  I gave up and just
started filling the food bowl with the two foods side by side.  With a big
cirlce of food split this way, all 7 could feed at the same time happily
without the extra work of digging in the bowl.  (At one point, I even
decided to get a little artistic and make a yin-yang design in the bowl.
Hey, it was after a very long week.  You do what you have to do to keep
things interesting.)
 
After several months most of the Marshall's feeders switched to TF.  I only
had one hold-out.  Fifi, my finiky eater refused to change her ways.  Well,
HALLELUJAH!  About 3am this morning I heard someone munching away.  I have
one that hasn't been feeling well and hasn't eaten much the last couple of
days, so I turned on the light to see if it was her.  Nope.  It was Miss
Finicky Fifi herself eating from the TF side of the bowl.  She gave a look
like she was knew her secret was out.  I think she intended to keep me in
the dark forever, pun intended.
 
At any rate, don't give up trying to get them to switch.  Maybe the key is
reverse psychology: I don't care if you eat this food, but it's here if you
want to taste it.
 
Good luck to you all,
Debi
[Posted in FML issue 3120]