Troy-Lynn & Alexandria, I think you have pointed out an important thing: Not all attempts at changing a ferret's diet meet with success. One thing that has not been mentioned is that some ferrets that prove to be very reluctant to try new flavours and textures need a much slower, gentle method. This has recently proved successful without the ferrets having to fast at all! I would still encourage anyone who wants to change their ferrets' diet do do so with a mentor, or better still, look for advice on one of the many Natural Feeding lists. One of the drawbacks of feeding a natural diet to my lot is one I never considered sharing, because it is not important to me: Raw or natural feeding is not always convenient and can initially cause a bit more work. I've had one major disaster with a hidden stash of small whole (pre-killed) prey and chicken pieces smelling out the house. I solved this by blocking access (to the tiniest ferret I had at the time) to that spot behind a cupboard. Wouldn't you know it! I recently took in another little old girl and she is tinier still! Her favourite stash spot was under the washing machine. My washing machine is about 4 years old and none of my ferrets could ever get under it but she could. I've made a wooden frame to enclose the gap between machine and floor. Problem solved (until they find the next breach in stash security). Most of my lot use the stash boxes that are provided for them and I've found that they are a great boon to having less housework to do. Cheers, Shirley [Posted in FML 5404]