He is not interested in eating...

[bare01]

Hello. I am troubled now.

He is not very interested in eating. The most important thing for him is playing. He does not eat until he gets tired of playing.
Children's ferrets aim to eat 20% of their weight a day. But he eats only 10-15% on average.
He is a child and now is a growing season. He is about three months old. So I am concerned that he is not interested in eating. I am wondering if this is good.

What do you do when you want them to eat a little more?

P.S.
Please do not worry. He is not ill. He runs fine every day and sometimes eats a tremendous amount of raw food. His weight is steadily increasing. His weight has increased from 440g to 800g in 20 days.

[Heather]

You will find his dietary needs fluctuate. Just because he doesn't eat that whole percentage isn't a bad thing. They're there for guide lines. You may find at this age they appear to slow down but in a month they will suddenly up that in a big way
ciao

[bare01]

Jul 12, 2019 14:20:17 GMT -5 Heather said:

You will find his dietary needs fluctuate. Just because he doesn't eat that whole percentage isn't a bad thing. They're there for guide lines. You may find at this age they appear to slow down but in a month they will suddenly up that in a big way
ciao

Thank you for your answer.
I was worried that he would not eat, but I was relieved to hear from you.
While paying attention to his weight gain or loss, I decide to have him eat raw food at his own pace.
He loves red meat (horses, deer and lamb), does not like the other organs, and bones are hard to eat.
And he was able to eat the chick's head last week. (He did not eat some parts of the chick's body.)
He tends to avoid food he does not like. But I try to get him to eat it.
I am most happy to see him grow bigger and bigger.
Thanks.

[peacexlovexpets]

Since he is a baby, you can try making the food a fun prey item to play with and eat. I have seen people have success with pets by using a laser pointer for the pet to chase, and gnaw at and then leading them to their food dish with it and dancing it around on the food so the pet will put their face in and eat.

Also- I weigh my ferrets every other day and my kit would plateau for a week or so at a time before shooting up again. She even had a 2 week period where she lost weight. He will be okay as long as you keep an eye on him and he isn't thinning out too much.

[Kavinsky]

I'm having the same issue as you, I've found that teasing her with the food by getting her to chase it works the get her to want to eat it, and putting her food in a treat puzzle seems to work too. Maybe it'll work for you too

[bare01]

Jul 22, 2019 12:34:48 GMT -5 peacexlovexpets said:

Since he is a baby, you can try making the food a fun prey item to play with and eat. I have seen people have success with pets by using a laser pointer for the pet to chase, and gnaw at and then leading them to their food dish with it and dancing it around on the food so the pet will put their face in and eat.

Also- I weigh my ferrets every other day and my kit would plateau for a week or so at a time before shooting up again. She even had a 2 week period where she lost weight. He will be okay as long as you keep an eye on him and he isn't thinning out too much.

Thank you for the reply.
I had no idea of ​​inviting him for a meal with a laser pointer. I go to the shop to buy it right away. He likes toys and chasing me, so your proposal will surely succeed.

He became 935 g in 30 days. He has never lost weight, but he eats quite a bit depending on the day. He is stubborn and does not eat anything he does not like. I devise his meal so that he can get bigger and bigger.

Thank you.

[bare01]

Jul 22, 2019 14:07:17 GMT -5 Kavinsky said:

I'm having the same issue as you, I've found that teasing her with the food by getting her to chase it works the get her to want to eat it, and putting her food in a treat puzzle seems to work too. Maybe it'll work for you too

Thank you for your reply.
I was very relieved to find someone with the same troubles as me.

I take him to the meat when he plays a lot and gets tired.Then he eats a little bit of that.Or hide it in his favorite place (the back of the sofa).
Recently, I feel that the amount of food he can eat has increased.I am a little relieved about that.

By the way, what is treat puzzle? I want to try that for him.

[Kavinsky]

Jul 22, 2019 18:24:21 GMT -5 bare01 said:

Jul 22, 2019 14:07:17 GMT -5 Kavinsky said:

I'm having the same issue as you, I've found that teasing her with the food by getting her to chase it works the get her to want to eat it, and putting her food in a treat puzzle seems to work too. Maybe it'll work for you too

Thank you for your reply.
I was very relieved to find someone with the same troubles as me.

I take him to the meat when he plays a lot and gets tired.Then he eats a little bit of that.Or hide it in his favorite place (the back of the sofa).
Recently, I feel that the amount of food he can eat has increased.I am a little relieved about that.

By the way, what is treat puzzle? I want to try that for him.

Treat puzzles you can buy online, they're generally called dog treat puzzles. It's a treat or bit of food hidden within something they have to work out how to get into to get the food. I've found it encourages Freya quite well when she's back a day of not wanting to eat

[bare01]

Jul 23, 2019 7:21:33 GMT -5 Kavinsky said:

Treat puzzles you can buy online, they're generally called dog treat puzzles. It's a treat or bit of food hidden within something they have to work out how to get into to get the food. I've found it encourages Freya quite well when she's back a day of not wanting to eat

I understood about Treat puzzles. It is also sold to Japan. I will get it soon. Thank you for telling me more. I will do my best to make him eat some meat.

[Kavinsky]

I hope all goes well for you