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Post by hails on Apr 17, 2011 21:21:08 GMT -5
I was reading on Hare Today and a few other places that you're only supposed to feed 2-3% of a dog's body weight to maintain it. Does this also count for ferrets? Or are they just so high-energy that they go through more?
If I went by the 2-3%, then my 3-pound boy would only need 1 ounce a day. However, Hare Today also made a note saying that puppies needed up to 10% and going by that, it would be nearly 5 ounces a day for him!
I guess I'm just wondering where the 1-2 ounces for girls and 3-4 ounces for boys thing came from. I don't want to buy a bunch of yummy meat that'll go bad before they get to it.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 17, 2011 21:34:17 GMT -5
Ferrets need much more than that. Their metabolism is SO high. I know they eat far more pound for pound than my cats do. Actually- they ate about the same amount of ounces as my 10lb cats ;D
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Post by hails on Apr 17, 2011 21:40:58 GMT -5
Hahaha, I figured as much! Looks like I'd better get used to buying 18 pounds of meat a month then! I don't think I even eat that much meat...this is going to get pretty expensive pretty quickly.  |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 17, 2011 21:44:35 GMT -5
Not sure where you are in your diet switch, but mine slowed way down after 3-4 months. 4 of them then ate about 5-6 ounces per meal.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Apr 17, 2011 22:43:10 GMT -5
If that is true then I'm quadruple overfeeding my ferret!  |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 17, 2011 22:57:21 GMT -5
And you wondered why the vet said he was fat??? ;D ;D ;D
When mine were kits, yes, they ate more than they wound up eating as adults. About 1 1/2- 2 times their adult diet.
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Post by Heather on Apr 17, 2011 23:08:13 GMT -5
I find there are too many variables to throw general percentages out there for ferrets...age, size, gender, altered/intact, season, pregers (though not often on this list), switching. No, the 2 to 3 percent variable for dogs will not suit for ferrets. In fact even comparing one ferret to another is probably not a good idea either, though we do have a general consensus as to how much a healthy ferret should consume.
ciao
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