My ferrets eat most in the night and morning

[shilohismygirl]

Any food I sit out in the day time, from about 12-9 will be left uneaten but when the night falls, especially in the wee hours of the morning, I hear banging on the den and cage-because they want more food! Umm, excuse me Hiro, Dr. Fattington, but Mom likes to sleep at 4:30 am! But, I always end up shuffling into the kitchen to get them food because I can't stand the thought of them going without. A part of me knows I have let them train me on their preferred eating times instead of training them on when mom put out the food- BUT, do any of yours prefer eating in the morning and night time? They end up eating about two big meals a day, on in the middle of the night and one again at about 5-7. D

[melcab]

That's exactly when mine seem to want to eat too. But if you're feeding raw and you feed in the am and before bed, you should be fine. Do you take the food out after a certain amount of "eating time"? Is that the issue?

I'm a new-ish owner. I've only had my guys since May, but this is what I do. I just put the food in the cage in the am and then if there's any left by my bedtime I take it out, refresh it and leave it in over night. Then, next morning I do the same. If there's any left I take it out and put in fresh.

Plus I think ferrets are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) so those eating times seem about right.

[shilohismygirl]

Yes, that's true, and that is pretty much what I do, except I always end up getting up to feed them at 4:30 am every morning because I'm bad at gauging how much they need and I hate the idea of wasting. lol

[Heather]

You are well trained ;D ;D My guys run out...suck it up boys I"m not getting up to feed you ;D ;D Yes, I know they can get loud but....I'm well enough trained without that one too
ciao

[Deleted]

I usually just give them so much food at night that there is always some left over ;D

[shilohismygirl]

Lol, yeah. I will just try putting a bit more food in at night. Hiro and Oz though are notorious for eating stuff they like too fast and puking-they do it a few times a month, and sometimes, they hog all the food down and the others don't get any right away. Oh well, I love my little piggies.

[Sherry]

Mine eat at those times as well. But they also know that once they are in the cage- that door is NOT going to open again until playtime ;D

[shilohismygirl]

I should probably take a firmer stance on it. Who am I to complain when I'm complying with their silly rules!?

[crazylady]

LoL they are being pulled by natural instinct normally a ferret in the wild would hunt from dusk till dawn so this is the natural feeding time ! ( its quiet and dark and they feel safer sitting in one spot eating ) its also cooler I feed mine around 7pm BUT they dont eat it they eat one piece and stash it in the corner or the bed but next morning its all gone lol I have seen them eat around midnight so for my guys midnight is the dining hour not the witching hour lol take care bye for now
Bev aka crazy lady

[miamiferret2]

me too. he barely eats during the day. he eats at night and in the morning. weird. and he really only eats big meals twice a day. it is such a drastic change from the days when i fed kibble. i recall my ferrets always standing over the bowl CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. then again, i also recall picking up alot of ferret poopies....

[shilohismygirl]

Cool-I don't know why I never came to the conclusion, knowing about their tendencies to be more active in the morning/evening that them leaving their snacking for midnight was completely natural! I'll just leave more food for them during the night and hopefully they will get plenty of noms without mom having to restock!

[Deleted]

Mr bean protest poos if they run out of food before I wake up so I give xtra

[cubsfanhaynes]

Mine get the 12 hour treatment. I have the fortune of working a night shift 3pm-12am.

I set out food at 2pm, and see what they have left at 2am when I'm home. If they are out I hang new meat at 2am, of they aren't, I move to take it, of I get charged at (not really charged they just come running of they think I'm taking food) I leave it be. I have read in numerous sources that they will not eat bad meat. With that in mind if there's food left at 2am I tend to leave it be until 10 am. After 20 hours 2pm to 10am I pull it regardless of protests and hang fresh meat at 2pm.

[Deleted]

My hobb does that. I've heard him banging & dooking in his cage wanting more food as soon as the roosters start up in the mornings. I always make sure to give him a good meaty bone or a large lump of meat each night before bed (for me that's about 9pm), but they get given two meals each evening, first one around 5pm & a second one before bed time, which is normally a snack item for during the night. Since giving him a snack item, I can sleep until 5:50am on work days & he won't stir until I give him his breakfast, & days off I get to sleep in till 8 before any of the animals start kicking up a fuss

[Deleted]

Sept 28, 2011 2:44:59 GMT -5 @cubsfanhaynes said:

Mine get the 12 hour treatment. I have the fortune of working a night shift 3pm-12am.

I set out food at 2pm, and see what they have left at 2am when I'm home. If they are out I hang new meat at 2am, of they aren't, I move to take it, of I get charged at (not really charged they just come running of they think I'm taking food) I leave it be. I have read in numerous sources that they will not eat bad meat. With that in mind if there's food left at 2am I tend to leave it be until 10 am. After 20 hours 2pm to 10am I pull it regardless of protests and hang fresh meat at 2pm.

I follow a similar schedule - usually leave stashed meat for 14-18 hours, then toss and replace