Paprika
Gnawing on bones
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder[/b]
Posts: 87
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Post by Paprika on May 21, 2009 23:17:59 GMT -5
My mom got a little scale and we've been messing with it all day. I weighed Leopold and Molly, and was quite surprised:  Leopold: 2 lbs 11 oz  Molly: 2 lbs 5 oz (Actually, this image is slightly off. She started moving off the scale as I took the pic. Before, it was at 2 lbs 6oz) Leopold and Molly are six months old. Am I right to think that they are huuuuge?!! I noticed that after the switch, my ferrets grew at an alarming rate. They are really quite large! I keep reading that ferrets reach their full size at one year old. Am I going to end up with a 3 pound boy, and a two and a half pound female? I think that this is pretty large for Marshall's ferrets  How much do your ferrets weigh? Do you think the raw diet has had something to do with it? |
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Post by Heather on May 22, 2009 1:25:13 GMT -5
Sounds like some good weights  It's really hard to guess what your ferrets are going to weight in the end. I found that Napoleon (mine from kit), Attila, Ghenghis and Lady "B" (who was turned in at 9 months) lost their kit weight at about 1 yr. I don't know if others found this. They seemed to loose their flubby baby fat and became leaner harder muscled. I found that raw fed ferrets seem to put on weight slower over a longer period of time. My understanding is that a ferret is basically full grown at 6 to 9 months. I've put a list of my ferrets with summer weights and where they're from. Most are farm ferrets. Ghenghis -- 3 lbs marshals Calypso -- 1.12 lbs marshals Lady "B" -- 2.07lbs path valley Pooka -- 1.13lbs marshals Napoleon -- 3.12lbs path valley Nicodemus -- 3lbs marshals Captain Jack -- 3.02lbs hagen Sprite -- 1.01lbs marshals Babushka -- 1.00lbs marshals Fun-go --2.12lbs path valley Mad Max -- 2.13lbs path valley Odin -- 3.04lbs breeder Loki -- 3.09lbs path valley Thor -- 3.03lbs breeder Attila -- 4.09lbs path valley Hope that helps ciao |
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 22, 2009 3:31:05 GMT -5
Mizu tipped the scales at over 4lbs this past winter. He was raw/whole prey fed since we brought him home at 8weeks old. Fugue weighed in at 3.5lbs past winter. He was raw/whole prey fed since 16 weeks old. I don't think that a raw/whole prey diet makes ferrets grow bigger then what they are genetically programed to be, but I do think that it helps them reach their full growth potential. I think a kibble diet keeps ferrets from reaching their maximum pre-determined size because it doesn't supply the proper nutrition they need to grow. Just my opinion though.
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Zoshi
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Raw Feeder[/color]
Actually, he's a cave bear <3
Posts: 203
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Post by Zoshi on May 22, 2009 8:31:56 GMT -5
Oh my goodness, Heather, those 1-pounders must be tiny!  Heheh, I know what you're talking about, Paprika. Mis and Coco have been on the switch for just about a month now, and Mis has gone up from just under 2 pounds to 2lbs 3oz (he's going to be a monster). Coco's gone up from 1lb5oz to 1lbs 12oz! I have no idea how old they are, I'm thinking anywhere between 3-6 months, since they were store bought by other people over a month ago before I adopted them, but they seem to be on the fast track to growing biiiig. Tikki, on the other hand, decided to get sick and lose her winter fat in one fell swoop, so she dropped from 1lb9oz to 1lb4oz and is now around 1lb 6-7oz. xD I'll have better/more precise info once my birthday present to myself comes in, because of course I'm insane and my b-day present is a new kitchen scale (since our scales are all iffy, and the one that actually works is in kilograms) and the new edition of Ferrets for Dummies. |
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Post by Heather on May 22, 2009 12:03:45 GMT -5
Those 1 pounders are very tiny. Both are marshals as posted but Babushka is 10 yrs old. She has good meat on her bones and eats well. She's the tiniest ferret that I've ever had (her previous people had taken apart a ferret harness and cut it down to fit her). She was fed poor quality kibble all her life and was born during the time that marshals was creating smaller ferrets so that they would look like kits longer in the stores   She's my only marshals that has only one tatoo  Calypso is starting to put on weight, she's 3. She's a recent rescue and both she and Jack were underweight in my opinion but had no muscle tone due to the fact they were never allowed to roam and play. Their people carried them around in carrying sack, the rest of the time they were in their cage. Even their cage had been converted to single floor, only for ease of cleaning. Calypso, isn't the best little girl for using a litter box, even in a cage so I think I understand why. This is a pic of Babushka sleeping in my hands  ciao |
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Post by bigsis7 on May 27, 2009 16:00:51 GMT -5
Ember is 1.4 pounds
Oliver is around 3.0 pounds. Need to get him weighed again!
Chewie is 2.5 pounds!
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Zoshi
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Raw Feeder[/color]
Actually, he's a cave bear <3
Posts: 203
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Post by Zoshi on May 27, 2009 17:25:28 GMT -5
Awww, poor Calypso and Jack.... But awwww, Babushka looks so adorable sleeping like that... xD
Updates on weight thanks to my new scale (yay!):
Mis: 2lbs 9.5oz (2.6lbs)
Coco: 1lb 12oz (1.8lbs)
Tikki: 1lb 8oz (1.5lbs)
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