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Post by tss on May 16, 2008 21:23:05 GMT -5
Most of the Marshall ferrets I've seen are 1.5 to 2 pounds, Today we weighed Lil and Weezer. Lil is 2 pounds and Weezer is 3  He has a belly but he isn't fat. When we got him he was more like 2 pounds, he was full grown but didn't really get out of his cage and was fed 8-in-1 and kaytee so I'm wondering if the extra weight is because of extra muscle mass. He gets about 9-12 hours out of cage each day and eats raw. What is the average weight for a Marshall ferret? |
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 16, 2008 21:36:08 GMT -5
Well De weighs 1lb 2 oz, shes a really tiny female and she's got muscle wasting from adrenal, so that might be part of why she weighs so little.
Mizu and Fugue are also Marshall ferrets but they ate whole prey during their growing period and they are BIG. Samson, De's cagemate was raised on kibble and ate it for a looonggg time, he is not that large I thought he was around 3 lbs but its more like 2 lbs 5 oz.
I honestly cant say what the average weight is, but I DO think that feeding whole prey or raw during the growing months makes a big difference in the overall size of the ferret. I dont think whole prey/raw makes them BIGGER then what they are genetically "designed" to be, but I DO think eating well during growth helps them reach their full growth potential, make sense?
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Post by tss on May 16, 2008 22:56:36 GMT -5
Yeah, makes sence.... When do ferrets stop growing??
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 17, 2008 6:21:13 GMT -5
I was told they do 90% of their growing by 6 months, and then 10% of their growing between 6 months and 1 year. Someone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong  |
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Post by tss on May 17, 2008 10:00:52 GMT -5
Hm, it does almost seem like he grew a bit more after we got him but he was already said to be about 1.5 + years old. He was bought (as a small kit I'm sure) at Petland in April of '06, we got him October of last year. The same thing happened with one of our dogs, she was 2 when we got her but she DID grow after that.  |
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ferretmaster
Going Natural
Ferretopia Ferret Forum[/color]
Ferret Slave
Posts: 120
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Post by ferretmaster on May 17, 2008 21:41:35 GMT -5
I would say that most Marshall's kids are between 1-2 lbs for females and 2-4 lbs for males, if over a year and a half old. There has been some talk that in the last year and a half Marshall's has introduced some European blood to there mix and the ferrets have gotten bigger. That is only talk and letters that have been written by others and myself to Marshall's trying to find out if this is true have gone unanswered. There is also speculation that the tattoo on some of the Marshall's ferrets paws indicates European blood lines. From what i have seen with my 2 boys and other peoples ferrets that are Marshall's and have paw tattoos are larger than Marshall's ferrets from a 2 years ago, my 2 boys are 10 months old now and are 4 lbs in summer trim and should be getting bigger.
A ferret reaches full maturity at around a year in age and their adult body weight should be stabilized at 14 months[if i remember correctly] A ferret can gain as much as 40% of their body weight in the winter and then loose That added weight for summer. I have one female Marshall's fert that never changes her weight and stays a constant 1 lbs 7 oz so it depends on the ferret and their metabolism on how much they pack on in the winter.
I would say with your kids they may put on some muscle mass due to the better food and exercise, but i think they are done growing. I weigh my my kids once a month with a food scale so i can keep track of their weight, a sudden weight change could indicate a health issue that other wise might go unnoticed till other sometimes appear.
I have 5 path valley ferrets and they are larger than my Marshall's kids. The 3 females range between 1 3/4 -2 1/2 lbs in summer and the 2 males 3-5 in summer.
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Post by tss on May 18, 2008 17:35:12 GMT -5
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 18, 2008 18:48:01 GMT -5
So does my 1lb 2 oz ferret  |
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Post by josiesmom on May 21, 2008 6:30:44 GMT -5
My Fozz man had a tattoo on one of his toe pads too, in addition to the normal Marshall's dots on his ear. He was a bit on the large side, but appeared even larger because he also had a long coat. I too read somewhere that the toe tattoo indicated european decent from Marshall's bred ferrets. It'd be great if we'd get some official confirmation. It never ceases to amaze me how big corporations like theirs and others don't have a dedicated PR person to handle such queries!
As for weight of ferrets - there is a noticeable difference in weight DISTRIBUTION between kibble fed ferrets and naturally fed ferrets. With every ferret I've switched their overall appearance has become leaner and more svelte, while their actual weight has increased! IOW their bellies reduced in circumference and their muscle mass increased.
Ferrets are naturally bell bottom shaped anyway, but kibble fed ferret's innards are so crammed with a constant supply of indigestible gunk that this distends their abdomens even further. Once on a regular natural diet, this "bloated" appearance goes away. Which allows some former kibble crunchers to actually fit INside their tunnels!
Cheers, Kim
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Post by tss on May 21, 2008 22:37:27 GMT -5
Lillian was on Purina CAT chow before we got her (we didn't find out until after her and Jill were on raw). She was a pudge ball, it wasn't really even winter weight just lots of unhealthy fat. She started trimming down right away.. The ferrets do get EVO once every month for two but that's it. Weezer is just big, not fat. My cousin doesn't understand that so she called him morbidly obese  |
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Post by josiesmom on May 22, 2008 19:31:14 GMT -5
Now that ROMAN has come into my family I'm getting a new perspective on what a "big" ferret is. ROMAN is a "Path Velley" ferret and reported to be a mere 5 months old yet he is considerably larger than Bugsy, a Marshal's ferret who is no slouch in size.
ROMAN has been kibble fed and of course still falls under the Path Valley guarantee - that if fed PVF food for the first year of his life, they will replace him if he suffers from or dies from any veterinarian confirmed congenital "defect" or health problem not related to an accident. I got a bag of PVF food, but he has already shown an excellent interest in the freeze dried meaty items and tonight he dispatched and chomped on his first mouse!
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 23, 2008 2:26:22 GMT -5
Ugh that path valley food is naaaaaaaaa-sty! *barf*! Wednesday was on that food when I first brought her home. She switched to the natural foods quicker then any of my other ferrets (Probably because the PV food was so gross!  )  Sounds like ROMAN is a smart little guy that knows that natural food is waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy yummier then kibble  |
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Post by Heather on May 25, 2008 18:46:46 GMT -5
I've got 6 Marshall's and 6 Path Valley and 2 breeders (local breeder unknown) ferrets. The diffence in size weight is considerable but well within what people call a normal range. My smallest girl, Babushka (Marshalls) is just over a pound, a tiny little thing...my largest girl is a Path Valley weighing in at 3.5 lbs (she is my only Path Valley female) My smallest male is Aremis (Marshals) who weighs in at 2 lbs 8 oz (just recently weighed and being treated for lymphoma), my largest male is Attila (Path Valley) who weighs in and just under 5 lbs in summer weight. The big difference between raw or natural fed ferrets that I notice is muscle tone (but this could also be attributed to free roam, and being outdoors) but the real thing is the smell of the coat or maybe I should say the lack of smell. I'm presently trying to convert 2 tiny little Marshal's ferrets that were recently turned into me. One is 5yrs and the other is turning 10. Both are fed some really lousy ferret food. The one is converting without much problem but little Babushka is really giving me grief. Her coat smells absolutely awful  Now just for the record both girls smelt this way but Pooka is now eating as much raw as kibble and no longer has that sort of stale, musty odour The 2 breeder's ferrets because they were allowed to be intact one until he was 8 or 9 months (Thor) and the other past the age of 5 (Odin) have very different muscle structure from my farm ferrets. Just my observations ciao Heather and the furkids |
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Post by meli on May 25, 2008 18:56:03 GMT -5
Where I'm going to get my ferts..the guarantee is the same..they have to be fed zupreem in order for the year guarantee to stay in tact..couldn't I buy a bag and just keep it handy |
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 25, 2008 19:05:09 GMT -5
IMO the guarentee is not worth feeding a crappy food. You have to jump through so many hoops to get your money back for the fert if it dies. I would much rather put them on a good food and then bite the bullet and deal with it if something happened. Getting my money refunded if myh fert died wouldn't make me any less upset about losing my fert.
IMO the only reason they make you keep the fert on their food is so they can make more $$$ by selling their food.
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