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Post by bigsis7 on May 7, 2009 8:41:29 GMT -5
Ok, so with the commercial raw I don't free feed my ferrets. I can't cause they eat everything with in five minutes of setting it in front of them! So instead I was doing smaller meals 2-3 times a day. Well now it's gotten to the point where I have to feed them at least 3 times a day or else they act like they're starving! They eat (altogether) a patty more then they should daily (according to the feeding directions). Right now I'm not in the position to get Ziwipeak to free feed. Definently won't when I move to Canada. Do you think maybe there's some health problem going on? Or something else I can do so they want to play instead of eat all day :-P? There poo is fine (except for an occasional seedy poo from Chewie, which he's probably still recovering from the incedent), so I know that it's not going thru them to fast.
Another question! Ember has found joy in chewing blankets! I put blankets in the cage to dull the noise they make when they scratch, but Ember has been chewing on them! Not much, but enough for me to take them out. She bored or hungry? Thanks guys!
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Post by sherrylynne on May 7, 2009 8:48:05 GMT -5
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Ember is eating the bulk of it. She's a growing girl, after all!
With mine, if it's something they really like, they'll eat it up fast. They are still fine until I put the next meal in though.
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Post by bigsis7 on May 7, 2009 8:52:21 GMT -5
She seems to be! Her and Chewie eat a lot of it then Oliver takes whatever though he still acts like he's starving! All of them do actually. They love the commercial raw, but it doesn't seem to dull their hunger for long  . |
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Post by Heather on May 7, 2009 12:57:54 GMT -5
If your guys are that hungry you're not feeding enough. If you have younger ferrets, you will have to accomodate for a higher activity and metabolic rate. You're going to have to up their amounts  . My guys eat roughly 2 to 3 lbs of meat every 2 or 3 days. So they're eating over a pound a day plus whatever whole meats they get...last night they ate 30 mice in the evening sitting. Ferrets are not like dogs...their matabolism is such that they have to have food. During the summer my guys slow right down, but during the winter there's times I really wonder who's eating all the food  If you're guys are siting down and finishing all that food at one sitting all at once they're not getting enough. If they're stashing they're getting too much (not necessarily, I have a couple of chronic stashers, but they go back and eat their dinners later) ciao |
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Post by bigsis7 on May 7, 2009 13:56:49 GMT -5
Nope no stashing! So for Stella and Chewy's I believe it's half a patty per 3 pounds of weight twice a day. All together my ferrets weigh 6 pounds, so that's 1 patty twice a day. They're getting 3 patties thru out the day. For ASF it's 1/4 a patty two times a day per three pounds. So that's half a patty twice a day. The ferrets get that plus an extra S&C patty in the morning and evening. The ASF is given at noon. So maybe the vet weighed them wrong? Ember's 1.5, Ollie's around 2.0, and Chewie's 2.5. So I guess Oliver could weigh more than I think, but he's less than Chewie who just got weighed. I'll up their in take and see if that helps! Hopefully Alberta has some cheap places to get meat, lol!
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Post by suds on May 7, 2009 17:01:17 GMT -5
Hi Bigsis For 1 throw out and discard what the labels says . its ment to be a guide only a starting point. Ferrets can not be fed on a wieght scale each ferret and busness need to be fed depending on what they need at that time depending on the time of year and there activity. sounds like your not feeding them enough the baby will eat you out of the house think of a teenage growing boy they eat double of normal people lol I would try and add more at each feeding and watch there intake then adjust from there to add more or less in over time . summer is comming soon so they should start to eat less soon but again this totaly depends on the idividual ferret . remember ferrets are very good at not over eating they in most case will only eat what they need. For Ember if you can try and give her a wing to chew on while in the cage it mite deture her from eating the fabric. |
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Post by bigsis7 on May 7, 2009 19:50:56 GMT -5
Hi Suds!!
Alrighty! I'll forget the labels! Ember is a year old in almost exactly a month, so she's not exactly a baby, but does eat a ton! Haha her and Chewie! Alright I'll start increasing their intake and see how that goes! They seem to be eating more this Spring than they did in the winter! Must be Ember, lol! One thing I'm worried about is I'll be moving to Canada soon and my main income are families I babysit for at least two times a month. That and pet sitting occasionally. Once I move to Canada I can't charge as much as I do here and I probably won't have any babysitting jobs for a while. I'm going to try and get 2-3 months worth of food for the ferrets before we leave, so I'm prepared. I hate babysitting, but you do what you got to do right? So once I get there I'm hoping to actually get a job as a ranch hand or something. Hopefully they have cheaper meat at stores up there!
Alright thanks for the tips!
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Post by sherrylynne on May 7, 2009 21:37:01 GMT -5
One thing to keep in mind as well, the labels give the amount a cat would eat. My ferrets eat almost twice as much a my cat for their body weight, since their metabolism is much higher. Not a clue how much the meat would be in Lethbridge. I can only go by what we have here, and Calgary is one of the more expensive cities to live in. I pay $12- $14 for two 1- 1 1/2 lb cornish hens, just as an example. However, I also get paid a lot more than I would in another place!
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Post by bluedove on May 8, 2009 2:19:21 GMT -5
If your guys are that hungry you're not feeding enough. If you have younger ferrets, you will have to accomodate for a higher activity and metabolic rate. You're going to have to up their amounts . My guys eat roughly 2 to 3 lbs of meat every 2 or 3 days. So they're eating over a pound a day plus whatever whole meats they get...last night they ate 30 mice in the evening sitting. Ferrets are not like dogs...their matabolism is such that they have to have food. During the summer my guys slow right down, but during the winter there's times I really wonder who's eating all the food If you're guys are siting down and finishing all that food at one sitting all at once they're not getting enough. If they're stashing they're getting too much (not necessarily, I have a couple of chronic stashers, but they go back and eat their dinners later) ciao Seriously??? Isn't that like half their body weight? I realize there is an increased moisture content and all, but how in the world does a creature that sustains body weight on less than 1/2 cup dry kibble daily go to eating over a pound of meat daily? That just doesn't seem to compute... I know adult cats are expected to eat ~2-4% of their body weight in raw meat... I could understand that ferrets may be different, but THAT different?? |
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Post by ccretarolo on May 8, 2009 2:32:33 GMT -5
Seriously??? Isn't that like half their body weight? I realize there is an increased moisture content and all, but how in the world does a creature that sustains body weight on less than 1/2 cup dry kibble daily go to eating over a pound of meat daily? That just doesn't seem to compute... I know adult cats are expected to eat ~2-4% of their body weight in raw meat... I could understand that ferrets may be different, but THAT different?? I think that Heather meant that all 15 (? correct me if I'm wrong) of her ferrets go through that much meat. My Ozzy is 3 months old and eats around 6-8 ounces a day but that's simply because he's still growing. I'm expecting his intake to start decreasing in a couple of months and then gradually decline to his adult levels within the next 6 months. |
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Post by bluedove on May 8, 2009 2:50:22 GMT -5
If that's true... then she's saying each ferret eats less than 2 oz raw per day? I think that makes even less sense, lol! (although that would be about 4% body weight for a 3lb fert) *is confuzzled*
How much does a 3mo ferret weigh? 1lb? If so 6-8 oz IS nearly 50% body weight... which is more like what I thought Heather was saying...
I'm just thinking that since cats and ferrets eat a comparable amount of kibble, it just seems logical that they would eat comparable amounts of raw. Suddenly I feel the need for a "How much do you feed you ferret?" survey...
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Post by ccretarolo on May 8, 2009 3:35:47 GMT -5
Lol. My Ozzy is a really chunky boy. He weighs close to 2 pounds and is growing fast. He's easily doubled and possibly tripled in size in the month that I've had him.
In any case, every ferret is an individual but I've noticed that the average is less than 3 oz a day for an adult ferret. I could be completely wrong though... I've only been dealing with raw with ferrets for about a month now.
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Post by harrisi on May 8, 2009 3:40:32 GMT -5
If that's true... then she's saying each ferret eats less than 2 oz raw per day? I think that makes even less sense, lol! (although that would be about 4% body weight for a 3lb fert) *is confuzzled* How much does a 3mo ferret weigh? 1lb? If so 6-8 oz IS nearly 50% body weight... which is more like what I thought Heather was saying... I'm just thinking that since cats and ferrets eat a comparable amount of kibble, it just seems logical that they would eat comparable amounts of raw. Suddenly I feel the need for a "How much do you feed you ferret?" survey... Done it before hehe holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gen&action=display&thread=2322 |
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Post by Heather on May 8, 2009 14:25:59 GMT -5
Hee. fun isn't it  No, I'm feeding 15 ferrets but you have to remember I have ages from 2 to 10 yrs and weights from just under a pound to 5 lbs of ferret. My guys are also in a slowdown as the temps are nice and warm and they're really being lazy (I have 4 of them sleeping in the outdoor tube right now, with the spring breezes ruffling fur and warm sunshine warming furry bums). I also don't have any juveniles or kits. The weight given was also only the ground meat that is their daily fare, it doesn't include their whole meats and prey that they also get during the day. I don't even hazard a guess as to how much that is There were 25 chicken necks went out today plus their ground and I noticed that Loki had a mouse from last nights feeding (roughly 30 mice, there seemed to be a bum without a head in the pkg last night....a gift from one of the fuzzy assassins obviously who just couldn't pass up eating the head while hunting). They're going to get a whole rabbit tonight (fur, head, tail and all)..that will keep the little bums busy for awhile . Feeding is very much on an individual basis. I know that Lady "B" eats double what Calypso eats but eats less than Loki, who eats more than Mad Max, but less than Napoleon. Babushka is at the food bowl 3x more than anyone, is my smallest and oldest ferret but she eats less than anyone, despite the number of trips to the bowl. She also won't eat while she's in a cage....go figure  . It's all about getting to know your furbabies and knowing what they need to eat. I know that if I find too much food stashed they're getting too much and I cut back. If there's no food around and the food bowl is empty a lot, they're not getting enough. Simple equation in my household. I also don't pay attention to suggested food amounts listed on the pkgs. If that was the case my ferrets would be hungry, my cats would be fat and my dog...would blow up (according to pkg references...my dog should be eating 7 to 10 lbs of meat a day)...if working by % he should be getting about 4 to 6....he actually eats 3 to 5 lbs. It's all about the individual. Difficult when you're first starting out I know, but it comes in time . ciao
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Post by mustelidmusk on May 10, 2009 18:07:57 GMT -5
When my brats were about a 1.5 years old, they were eating as follows:
During Fall/winter:
Each ferret ate the following daily:
2.5 ounces of frozen raw per day PLUS
1/8 - 1/4 cup of freeze-dried raw per day PLUS
5 freeze-dried meat treats
During Spring/SUmmer:
1.75 ounces of frozen raw per day PLUS
1/8 - 1/4 cup of freeze-dried raw per day PLUS
5 freeze-dried meat treats
One day per week, I feed a light meal of reeze-dried only. on those days, I feed about 1/4 cup freeze-dried per ferret
SOme of the treats get stashed, so any stashed treats get cleaned up on the light day.
I find that my brats remain more inerested in food if they have a "light day" once a week. It seems to keep them energetic interested in food as well. If the same thing happens daily, they lose interest in the menu. I recommend this to the people I mentor, and I think some of them have a "light feeding day" as well.
My brats are not huge, but I think they're larger than average. My boys exceeded five pounds in the winter, and the girls were 2.75 and 3.00 when they were eating like horse.
They're now 4, and they are not as piggy (Thank God!!!), so they don't weigh as much.
-jennifer
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