Post by gfountain on Oct 19, 2015 14:30:31 GMT -5
So I just found out that wisp will fully accept the ground turkey and in fact will get mad if you take it away.
Heehee... typical ferret! So glad she's enthusiastic.
I might be going with the turkey, beef, and possibly venison
She's going to need primarily bone-in meats, things with bones that are small enough for her to eat. That means small animals. Some turkey bones she MIGHT be able to crunch through if you smash them for her. Beef and venison are good muscle meats but there aren't any bones. Your best bet for bone-in is going to be fowl, chicken, duck, quail, pheasant. Edible bone-in meat makes up about 60-65% of the diet so you'll need lots.
I was going to ask you when I get the organs, is there any specific preparation for them?
Hopefully, she'll accept them whole. That makes prep so much easier, but if she won't take them that way, we'll start with blending them, then slivers, and work our way up to whole.
Also, how much I should get ex.. buy a weeks worth at first and such as that.
Definitely start with smaller amounts. It's fine to freeze them, but you don't want to have a lot of stuff in the freezer that she refuses to eat. If you start with a small amount, you can find out what she likes the best without having a lot of waste.
I am currently noticing that she is also wanting to eat more as well.
New switches eat a lot and young ferrets eat a lot and winter is coming. When they switch, it seems like their bodies crave the nutrients that they've been missing from their kibbles and they will eat and eat and eat. She'll slow down again and level off. Also they eat more in the fall/winter, putting on some extra weight for cold weather.
She was getting 18 oz. of food a day with the fdr
Are you sure about this number? 18 oz is a LOT of food!
How much exactly should she be eating in a day?
Most ferrets will self-regulate. It's rare that a ferret will overeat. As long as she's eating a good balanced diet, she should have as much as she wants. Adult females usually eat 1-3 ounces per day. Being young and newly switching and heading into winter, I would say she'll probably eat a little more than that, maybe 3-4 ounces. She really needs to have her food available at all times. The best way to determine her needs is to feed her more than you think she'll eat in a 12 hour period. Weigh it before you serve it and weigh whatever is left at the end of the 12 hours. Do that for a few days in a row and you can pretty much tell exactly how much she needs.
I don't know for sure but if I had to guess her weight right now I would say around 2 lbs.
2 pounds is a good weight for a female. Do you not have a scale that you can weigh her on? It is important to keep track of her weight from season to season so you'll know what 'normal' is for her. For example, in spring it's always scary to watch them drop ounces to their summer weight. If you have kept a log, you can look back and see that she did the same thing the previous year and so the weight loss if fine. Alternately, if she did NOT lose weight at the same time the previous year, there could be a problem that needs to be addressed.
So is there a ratio to the amount of food such as x oz. of food/ x body weight?
Nope, not really. In general, females eat 1-3 ounces per day, males 3-5 ounces. But that is a VERY general statement. The best way to determine her specific needs is to simply weigh her food. Allow her as much as she wants, especially right now while she is switching and recovering from illness and trying to put on winter weight. Just for reference, my wee female weighed 13 ounces when she came home at 10 weeks of age. She ate between 12 and 15 ounces of meat per day until she was about 5-6 months old, then she cut back to 8-10 ounces per day. At 10 months, she was down to about 5 ounces a day and now at 20 months, she eats about 1.5-2 ounces. She currently weighs 1 pound 10 ounces.
Heehee... typical ferret! So glad she's enthusiastic.
I might be going with the turkey, beef, and possibly venison
She's going to need primarily bone-in meats, things with bones that are small enough for her to eat. That means small animals. Some turkey bones she MIGHT be able to crunch through if you smash them for her. Beef and venison are good muscle meats but there aren't any bones. Your best bet for bone-in is going to be fowl, chicken, duck, quail, pheasant. Edible bone-in meat makes up about 60-65% of the diet so you'll need lots.
I was going to ask you when I get the organs, is there any specific preparation for them?
Hopefully, she'll accept them whole. That makes prep so much easier, but if she won't take them that way, we'll start with blending them, then slivers, and work our way up to whole.
Also, how much I should get ex.. buy a weeks worth at first and such as that.
Definitely start with smaller amounts. It's fine to freeze them, but you don't want to have a lot of stuff in the freezer that she refuses to eat. If you start with a small amount, you can find out what she likes the best without having a lot of waste.
I am currently noticing that she is also wanting to eat more as well.
New switches eat a lot and young ferrets eat a lot and winter is coming. When they switch, it seems like their bodies crave the nutrients that they've been missing from their kibbles and they will eat and eat and eat. She'll slow down again and level off. Also they eat more in the fall/winter, putting on some extra weight for cold weather.
She was getting 18 oz. of food a day with the fdr
Are you sure about this number? 18 oz is a LOT of food!
How much exactly should she be eating in a day?
Most ferrets will self-regulate. It's rare that a ferret will overeat. As long as she's eating a good balanced diet, she should have as much as she wants. Adult females usually eat 1-3 ounces per day. Being young and newly switching and heading into winter, I would say she'll probably eat a little more than that, maybe 3-4 ounces. She really needs to have her food available at all times. The best way to determine her needs is to feed her more than you think she'll eat in a 12 hour period. Weigh it before you serve it and weigh whatever is left at the end of the 12 hours. Do that for a few days in a row and you can pretty much tell exactly how much she needs.
I don't know for sure but if I had to guess her weight right now I would say around 2 lbs.
2 pounds is a good weight for a female. Do you not have a scale that you can weigh her on? It is important to keep track of her weight from season to season so you'll know what 'normal' is for her. For example, in spring it's always scary to watch them drop ounces to their summer weight. If you have kept a log, you can look back and see that she did the same thing the previous year and so the weight loss if fine. Alternately, if she did NOT lose weight at the same time the previous year, there could be a problem that needs to be addressed.
So is there a ratio to the amount of food such as x oz. of food/ x body weight?
Nope, not really. In general, females eat 1-3 ounces per day, males 3-5 ounces. But that is a VERY general statement. The best way to determine her specific needs is to simply weigh her food. Allow her as much as she wants, especially right now while she is switching and recovering from illness and trying to put on winter weight. Just for reference, my wee female weighed 13 ounces when she came home at 10 weeks of age. She ate between 12 and 15 ounces of meat per day until she was about 5-6 months old, then she cut back to 8-10 ounces per day. At 10 months, she was down to about 5 ounces a day and now at 20 months, she eats about 1.5-2 ounces. She currently weighs 1 pound 10 ounces.