how often?

[Deleted]

how often should i feed my ferrets their soup mix? right now im stuck on spoon feeding as they won't eat on their own and i have to spoon feed a few bites and keep them by their food so they'll keep eating out of the bowl by themselves. if i dont offer them a bite off the spoon here and there they'll try to get away. wth am i doing wrong they're treating it like poison lmao. i figure they're eating a quarter-a half a standard muffin cup (not cooked muffin)-sized amount of food between the two of them every 2-4 hours and then i can almost manage to get them to eat a whole cube if i have been at work all day (i feed right before i leave and right when i get home leaving roughly 9 hours in between) any suggestions? would putting whole meat in the cage be a bad idea? i've been thinking that they wouldnt starve themselves in theory but i dont want to hurt them either

[Sherry]

Their actually eating a good bit of food!
Mine eat anywhere between 2-5 oz per day each. What you've described is about 3-4 oz in total EACH.
Try cutting back to feeding twice a day, and weigh the amounts. You will likely find letting them get a wee bit hungry first will help with eating on their own

[Deleted]

oohhhhh thanks sherry! yeah i was getting worried cuz i figured they should should eat more often as i dont feed them at night (they wont eat it) and i work all the time, so whenever im home i try to cram it all in glad to hear that they're eating a good amount tho!! i'll need to buy a kitchen scale to weight their food (thats the only reason i never signed up for the mentoring program)... perhaps ill go buy one tonight when the hubby is home

[Heather]

That would be my suggestion too. If they're a bit hungry they might be more inclined to try to feed themselves too. Ferrets despite their high activity level are remarkably lazy...especially when it comes to food .
ciao

[Deleted]

also i always hear that ferrets should eat every four hours (fast metabolism) is it ok to let them go longer then? also did u mean twice a day and not feeding at night? or twice a day and twice during the night?

[Heather]

The difference between kibble and 'real food' A kibble fed ferret because of its inability to process most of what it eats in those biscuits has to eat 2, 3x more than a ferret who eats it's species appropriate diet. Think Panda bears.....a carnivore that eats vegan, because of it's diet it has to eat pounds more food, put out tons more waste than it actually needs to. That is a ferret on kibbles. A raw fed ferret doesn't need to eat as often or as much.
ciao

[Sherry]

I feed morning and evening, and put in enough food for them to nibble on in between Since your's are still on soup give them their normal amount and then put a couple ounces in the cage and leave them with it.
In the evening give them their normal amount and again put a couple ounces for overnight.