To get your ferret to eat, get a tube of Nutrical. Squeeze out about a half an inch. Mix it with a teaspoon of hot WATER until it liquifies. Most ferrets will eat this out of a little glass custard bowl or a little yellow, "gerbel" plastic bowl. If all else fails, use a 3cc oral syringe. If he'll eat that, add a teaspoon of Ensure Plus (Never buy the kind with fiber, just plain vanilla) You can also use Develop 2 or Sustical. I have found that my ferrets have done best on Totally Ferret.(You can order it from Tom or Trish Willard...513-890-7784 or from the AFA) To get ferrets who have been sick , to eat, I start with the Nutrical/Ensure mixture until the ferret eats about 1" of Nurtrical and a tbls. or 2 of hot water with 2 tbls. Ensure. When they'll eat that readily, I ADD a teaspoon to a tablespoon of mush to the Ensure/Nutrical mixture. (Mush=1 tbls. ferret food, 1tbls. hot water, mixed in a blender til smooth...it's a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture, food to hot water) It should be the consistency of cream of wheat or a good chocolate mousse. Some ferrets like it thinner. Always feed this slightly warm. Over a few days, most of my ferrets will eat this mush and start to regain their weight and appetite. When sick, I feed them this mixture 3-4 times a day. As they get better, you cut back the Nutrical and Ensure, and begin to thicken the mush, until they get back on regular ferret food. There is no telling how long it will take to get the ferret back on real, hard food. It could take a week or several months, depending on the condition and the illness of the ferret. I have had ferrets with cancer, who refused to eat anything but the liquified Nutrical for several weeks before they'd accept any other food. I don't recommend that, but it's better than the ferret starving itself to death. All ferrets are different, but in 15 years, this method has never failed me. It takes time to put weight on a ferret, esp. a sick one. Be patient and make sure your ferret is diagnosed for whatever his problem is, by a good vet. I can offer you several refrences around the country if your vet could use some experts' opinions. Good luck. Roxanne [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1328]