Well...that didn't work.

[Heather]

I find the easiest switching tool is soupy. I use it for every one of my fuzzes. I've switched over 30 ferrets...fairly close to 35, I will have to go through my books ;D The oldest ferret that I've ever switched was Babushka, she was a 9 yr old marshals ferret who'd eaten nothing but Marshals food all her life. It took close to 6 months but in the end her favourite meal was mice...she started at the tail, like noodles ;D (most ferrets start with the head) The easiest a pair was a 5 and 7 yr old boys who came in so starving that they just stuck their heads in a raw soupy bowl and inhaled it. They hadn't had anyone give them food since Tues...I picked them up on Sunday They were so skinny and covered in fleas that my son refused to touch them. He was afraid they'd break.
Ferrets usually fixate on the food that their given the first 9 months of their lives. Switching after that time becomes more difficult and often requires a little ingenuity but if the ferret is healthy can usually done.
ciao

[Deleted]

If he's hooked on Cheerios, then something to try would be to get a baggie full of cheerios, crush them then put several pinkies in the baggie. Stick this back n the fridge for 2-3 days. The Cheerio flavors and smells will be absorbed by the pinkies, the pinkies will begin to dry out a bit and won't be as foreign to him.

Same thing with the soup intro - use liquified cheerios as the soup base and over the course of a few weeks begin to phase out the cheerios and replace with raw or pinkie puree.

Raw selections can be mild flavored meats - salmon, cornish game hen, white chicken meats, pork etc. If you start to add oils and or raw fats to the cheerio soup at a slightly higher percentage than the raw meats, its very likely this will entice him to dip into the soup.

Most ferrets are very attracted to fats - and the fats are very good for them.

Its not that I'm a fan of feeding them cheerios, but you have to look at where the ferret's been coming from and what he's learned to be comfortable with. So USE those comfort foods as the on ramp to the raw highway!

Merge his old world with the new world slowly, steadily and soon he'll be up to speed and leaving the "bad" behind! Don't EXPECT him to change abruptly - that usually ends up in a wreck.

Personally I praise them even if they simply sniff the new stuff.
Even if you mince up the raw into teeny tiny bits and mix into their familiar food, many will carefully pick around the raw, but remember that as they pick around it, they are still learning the new smells, flavors and textures.

The ones that pick around, will eventually convert on their own and you can start phasing out kibbles while increasing the sizes of raw. Its the ones that won't come near the food dish with the raw bits that would do better with the soup approach.

Don't get frustrated because they seem to be ignoring your efforts. They simply don't recognize the raw as food. ANd they'll pick up on your frustration.

Converting to raw will eventually give them the chance to ENJOY food, not simply be fed. So we need to enhance the fun and happy experiences. Our mindset needs to move away from scoop and feed to entice, present, assure and satiate.

Cheers,
Kim

[Sherry]

While using the smell would be one thing, I have to admit- I'm hesitant in the extreme about the idea of him actually consuming any more of these things. Soupies may just be the best way to go.

[Deleted]

I praised like crazy when he was interested in the mouse.

I don't know if he actually will eat cheerios. I have always been able to take them away before he tried to eat them.

[Heather]

The cheerio obsession would be something that I would discourage. I've had wee ones that have come in with some really odd diets and treats The most unusual was I had 3 wee boys who were fed Count Chocula....Odin, Thor and Loki. I was a little horrified the first time they came to stay at my place (I was sitting them) and their ferrant handed me this big tupperware sealed bowl and said the wee ones were to get a bowl of this during the night to tide them over until the morning .
ciao

[Deleted]

I'm thinking of trying to tyse my little boy with a live mouse... I tried for weeks to get him to eat soupy and it was a no go, I tried scruffing a tiny chunk into his mouth once and he spit it out and gagged Now I'm trying to switch him over to a grain free diet and he would just eat around it, so I tried putting only the new kibble in and he wouldn't touch it, he would just wait and try to eat the cats food when he was out. I'm convinced I'll never have him on healthy food lol. Hope you have better luck then I am!

[Deleted]

You could crush his kibble and mix meat baby food and water for soup to try.

[Deleted]

Bode will eat new kinds of kibble easily. At the very least I plan to put him on Epigen.