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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2017 11:51:31 GMT -5
Ok. So. My Rosie is on a FDR diet (Stella and chewys) duck goose and turkey mix.
I always have used 3 of each, total of 6. Three times a day. It equates to roughly 1-2oz of food daily.
Lately, she's been absolutely destroying her food... I am now feeding 4 and 4 to total 8.
Is this normal? Can some ferrets just keep eating and not have issues ?
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Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
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Post by Kaitlyn on Oct 16, 2017 12:11:34 GMT -5
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all the little fuzzies are eating more right now to fatten up for winter. My boys used to average 8-10OZ a day, and are currently averaging closer to 12 or sometimes more. They're becoming little chunks. I've been told this is pretty normal this time of year.
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Post by crazylady on Oct 16, 2017 12:39:32 GMT -5
Hi yes most ferrets are practically doubling there in take of food to lay down fat stores for winter young kits ( under a year can often eat 3x the normal amount there body goes into over drive ) 1-2oz of food daily is not a huge amount my female adults normally eat 2-3 oz per day ( winter 3-5oz depending on the jill ) males can go from 4-5oz up to 6-8oz it all depends on age and sex no two ferrets are the same hope this helps take care bye for now Bev
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Post by LindaM on Oct 16, 2017 15:25:59 GMT -5
I'm really confused in reading this. Which S&C are you feeding? Canine or feline? Three of what? Patties? Tidbits? Because a rehydrated FDR patty comes up to around 1.8oz if I recall correctly. I can recheck that one of the days my lots gets an FDR meal again. But if you are using the patties, it is HIGHLY unlikely that that many only makes that small amount of food, unless you do not rehydrate it and FDR must always be rehydrated. Three patties by themselves not hydrated yet comes up to 1.4oz on my kitchen scale already. And 6 dry tidbits don't even register. Which makes me assume that you do indeed rehydrate it if you do the tidbits, but heck, my ferrets (adults) would eat a LOT more than that too. FDR, as with any commercial grind, CAN cause some ferrets to overeat and become overweight, so no, sometimes they can end up with issues from it. Kaitlyn is correct that if you are somewhere that winter is creeping up on, the ferrets will be eating more to put on some winter chubbiness, BUT as for the amounts, hers are still kits who will already eat more than adults, so if yours is an adult they likely won't be eating quite that much. Athena is probably eating around 2-3oz right now daily (winter is coming for us), her summer averages are more in the 2oz range, with a day here and there where she does more like 1oz.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2017 21:52:24 GMT -5
I'm really confused in reading this. Which S&C are you feeding? Canine or feline? Three of what? Patties? Tidbits? Because a rehydrated FDR patty comes up to around 1.8oz if I recall correctly. I can recheck that one of the days my lots gets an FDR meal again. But if you are using the patties, it is HIGHLY unlikely that that many only makes that small amount of food, unless you do not rehydrate it and FDR must always be rehydrated. Three patties by themselves not hydrated yet comes up to 1.4oz on my kitchen scale already. And 6 dry tidbits don't even register. Which makes me assume that you do indeed rehydrate it if you do the tidbits, but heck, my ferrets (adults) would eat a LOT more than that too. FDR, as with any commercial grind, CAN cause some ferrets to overeat and become overweight, so no, sometimes they can end up with issues from it. Kaitlyn is correct that if you are somewhere that winter is creeping up on, the ferrets will be eating more to put on some winter chubbiness, BUT as for the amounts, hers are still kits who will already eat more than adults, so if yours is an adult they likely won't be eating quite that much. Athena is probably eating around 2-3oz right now daily (winter is coming for us), her summer averages are more in the 2oz range, with a day here and there where she does more like 1oz. 3-6 pellets. 3x a day. S&C feline. She's eating like a d*mn horse. She is about 4-5 years old
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Post by LindaM on Oct 16, 2017 23:21:56 GMT -5
Okay, so the little tidbits. Do you weigh the bowl first, tare to it, and then weigh the food? Because I just used 16 little tidbits and rehydrated them, and it came to .6oz on my kitchen scale. Looking at the physical amount in the bowl, Athena would eat that at minimum for a single meal (and that was 2x of the new amount you are giving per meal).
That's not a lot of food. Even for an adult, but something to keep in mind, just as Bev said, ferrets aren't all the same, so they don't all eat the same. Average for the adult female is 1-3oz per day, but in winter(or if you have one that has their seasons switched) they can do more than that and often the lower amount will be more like 2oz.
Is it going into winter where you are at?
It can often be misleading to judge a ferret by the amount they eat. Some may seem like they eat a ton, but they don't actually get fat. You can dangle your ferret, they should look like a straight tubesock. If their sides dip in under their ribs, they're underweight, if they bulge out then they are overweight. But again, keep in mind, in the winter season (or switched seasons) your fuzzy will be showing chubbiness.
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Post by Sherry on Oct 17, 2017 9:51:19 GMT -5
Winter weight they will pudge a fair bit. That is normal.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2017 16:45:11 GMT -5
Winter weight they will pudge a fair bit. That is normal. I do not use a kitchen scale currently. I used too and from what I remember it was 6 pieces was 1oz. I'm now wondering if that scale was very wrong and I've been feeding her under the amount necessary. If so, I feel terrible. So she should be eating roughly how much through winter? How much through summer? But now that I think about it. Her two 9oz bag lasts more than two weeks. So clearly it's been weighed improperly. You're telling me a 9oz will only last 3-5 days? If so then good lord she's being underfed and I'll change that immediately. She does not have a pudge to her and she is not skin and bones. She seems... normal
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Post by LindaM on Oct 17, 2017 17:54:40 GMT -5
How much is entirely dependent on each individual ferret. The adult average for a female ferret is 1-3oz per day. I only have one girlie in my business, and she will eat closer to 1.5-2oz through summer, with some days where she will eat more like just 1oz. With the approach of winter she is eating 2oz consistently and some days she will actually eat up to the 3oz.
I'd love to tell you how long the bag will last, but I don't feed only FDR, I mostly do a Frankenprey menu with a day or two where they'll get commercial grinds like FDR or Frozen. But remember your oz amount on the bag is for the dry FDR, it gains a bit of weight when water is added to rehydrate it again. As for how much is gains, you'll need to follow the instruction on the back for how much water to how much food should be used.
Here's my suggestion, get a little digital kitchen scale (I like the flat ones without the attached bowls). Doesn't need to be fancy or expensive. I have one that cost me like $10 or $15 and it weighs up to 11lbs. It does grams, milliliters, ounces and pounds. I grew up using the metric system, so I cook that way still, thus this little scale has been very valuable for me in both my applications or in weighing my ferrets' food and them in US measurements.
Get two identical bowls, tare the scale to one, add some of the tidbits and add some water to rehydrate them. If you need to take it off the scale to do so, then it's okay even if the scale shuts off. Just tare to the empty identical bowl, take it off (scale will show a -negative amount), add the bowl with food on it again and it should show how much food you have in the bowl.
You can find out how much she is eating, by weighing food before you offer it, and weighing it again afterwards to see how much remains. This is commonly what people will do when they switch their ferrets to raw first and try to figure out which averages their ferrets eat to minimize on waste or if they need to up the amount. (Again, that's where a spare identical bowl will be helpful in accurate measurements, or you can weigh the bowl and just subtract each time, but I find the other method faster and easier).
While I do weigh food for mine now and again, mostly I am used to how much the amount will look in the bowl or use pre-prepped containers from the freezer, I like going by how the bowl looks at the change of mealtime. If it's licked entirely clean, then it's very possible someone might not have eaten enough (they might have continued to eat had there been more food, make sense?) whereas if the bowl has a bite or so left, it means they probably had their fill and didn't want/need to eat more, or they'd have finished that last bite too.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2017 18:00:14 GMT -5
How much is entirely dependent on each individual ferret. The adult average for a female ferret is 1-3oz per day. I only have one girlie in my business, and she will eat closer to 1.5-2oz through summer, with some days where she will eat more like just 1oz. With the approach of winter she is eating 2oz consistently and some days she will actually eat up to the 3oz. I'd love to tell you how long the bag will last, but I don't feed only FDR, I mostly do a Frankenprey menu with a day or two where they'll get commercial grinds like FDR or Frozen. But remember your oz amount on the bag is for the dry FDR, it gains a bit of weight when water is added to rehydrate it again. As for how much is gains, you'll need to follow the instruction on the back for how much water to how much food should be used. Here's my suggestion, get a little digital kitchen scale (I like the flat ones without the attached bowls). Doesn't need to be fancy or expensive. I have one that cost me like $10 or $15 and it weighs up to 11lbs. It does grams, milliliters, ounces and pounds. I grew up using the metric system, so I cook that way still, thus this little scale has been very valuable for me in both my applications or in weighing my ferrets' food and them in US measurements. Get two identical bowls, tare the scale to one, add some of the tidbits and add some water to rehydrate them. If you need to take it off the scale to do so, then it's okay even if the scale shuts off. Just tare to the empty identical bowl, take it off (scale will show a -negative amount), add the bowl with food on it again and it should show how much food you have in the bowl. You can find out how much she is eating, by weighing food before you offer it, and weighing it again afterwards to see how much remains. This is commonly what people will do when they switch their ferrets to raw first and try to figure out which averages their ferrets eat to minimize on waste or if they need to up the amount. (Again, that's where a spare identical bowl will be helpful in accurate measurements, or you can weigh the bowl and just subtract each time, but I find the other method faster and easier). While I do weigh food for mine now and again, mostly I am used to how much the amount will look in the bowl or use pre-prepped containers from the freezer, I like going by how the bowl looks at the change of mealtime. If it's licked entirely clean, then it's very possible someone might not have eaten enough (they might have continued to eat had there been more food, make sense?) whereas if the bowl has a bite or so left, it means they probably had their fill and didn't want/need to eat more, or they'd have finished that last bite too. Yes it all makes perfect sense. Thank you for the information. I'll be picking up a scale this evening or tomorrow.
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Post by LindaM on Oct 17, 2017 18:10:17 GMT -5
You're welcome. Let us know how it goes and give that little munchie-face of yours a hug for us!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2017 18:42:04 GMT -5
You're welcome. Let us know how it goes and give that little munchie-face of yours a hug for us! I'm just really mad at myself for potentially underfeeding my Rosie (the love of my life lol) for years. She's probably 4-4 1/2 now and I don't know how she could have been underfed for years and still have 0 health issues. She acts, plays, and sleeps normally. She doesn't sleep 16 hours like most ferrets. She's awake constantly throughout the day. I'm going to purchase a kitchen scale and see exactly what 1oz of her food rehydrated will compare to what I've been feeding her. Will post picture after. My basic math skills failed me when I filled a 1oz container years ago.... just because the container holds 6-8 pieces didn't mean the pieces weighed 1oz. I feel utterly disappointed in myself, which I should be.
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Post by LindaM on Oct 17, 2017 19:09:42 GMT -5
I don't think you necessarily underfed her, though I admit the math doesn't make sense to me, which is why I made a bowl using the little tidbits (luckily still had some left) last night for my cat so I could try and see it physically.
I'm with you on the container though.. I use some 2.3oz plastic containers to measure out 2oz of meat bits, but sometimes I can barely fit the 2oz of meat into the container and then still be able to close the lid on it.
It's truly an honest mistake, so don't be hard on yourself (and hey, my measurement last night could've been somewhat off too for all we know, I will try to make another bowl tonight and take a photo too). Be proud that you are actually feeding your little girl one of the healthier diets instead of like so many just giving a bowl of kibble. She's a lucky girlie to have you. <3
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2017 20:42:09 GMT -5
I don't think you necessarily underfed her, though I admit the math doesn't make sense to me, which is why I made a bowl using the little tidbits (luckily still had some left) last night for my cat so I could try and see it physically. I'm with you on the container though.. I use some 2.3oz plastic containers to measure out 2oz of meat bits, but sometimes I can barely fit the 2oz of meat into the container and then still be able to close the lid on it. It's truly an honest mistake, so don't be hard on yourself (and hey, my measurement last night could've been somewhat off too for all we know, I will try to make another bowl tonight and take a photo too). Be proud that you are actually feeding your little girl one of the healthier diets instead of like so many just giving a bowl of kibble. She's a lucky girlie to have you. <3 Ok so, got the scale. Total BEFORE water added 1.0oz is 28-34 pieces (turkey weighs more than the duck Goose). 14 pieces (7 of each) after water added is 1.4oz. I've been giving her 6-10 pieces. So I guess I haven't horribly underfed her, but still have been under feeding. I'm going to do this, two times a day now, since two feedings should be 3oz and I've been feeding her 3x
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Post by LindaM on Oct 17, 2017 21:12:13 GMT -5
Hmm, very interesting about the weight difference between the proteins. I've never personally tested that with any of the FDR proteins, but I suppose it makes sense, there are obviously other factors in which they all vary from one another such as texture, so why not that as well. I used Salmon when I made my batch last night, the salmon is horrendously easy to crumble and sharp and stabby in texture, LOL. But I suppose it is also rather lightweight to the touch, which may be why with 16 bits and some water I couldn't even get to a full 1oz yet.
If your wee girl doesn't have any health issues, there should be no problem in feeding her only twice each day, an AM and a PM meal so to speak.
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