From:
Teresa Knezek
Date: 2003-03-19 20:17:47 UTC
Subject: How much soft food per day?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <a05111b08ba9e7ea978f2@[192.168.1.28]>
My Zan stopped eating on his own sometime in the last couple days.
I've been in bed with a flu most of the time, and was only really
getting up to give him his antibiotics twice a day... so I didn't
notice his activity level decreasing until yesterday, when I noticed
he seemed to be having trouble standing.
I made up some soft food in the blender: a small can of tuna in
water, a larger can of chicken in water, some olive oil for texture
and calories, NUPRO supplement powder for extra vitamins and
minerals, and some of his favorite kibble soaked in the mix, all
blended together to a "lappable" consistency. He ate a little of it
on his own, and then seemed to "give up".
I moved him into a separate, single-level cage, since he couldn't
climb up the ramps in the main cage. He didn't really move for about
6 hours, and I got him up to feed him every two hours. By the end of
the day, he'd gotten out of the hammock to poop once... and he got up
once more during the night.
This morning, I fed him a whole ounce of the food, hoping it will
tide him over until I get home and can feed him again. He was
standing up, and fighting back more this morning, so yesterday's
feedings seem to have helped...
But how much of the soft food mix should I be feeding him per day? He
will not eat on his own, so "as much as he wants" isn't going to
work... I fed him 2oz. total yesterday, 1/2 ounce at a time. I've
heard ferrets only need about 1.5 ounces of dry food per day, but
since this stuff has such a high liquid content, I'm assuming the
total volume would be higher.
What's the recommended maintenance amount of a baby food-type diet
per day for an adult male ferret? Ad how much should they be expected
to eat at one time? Their stomachs can't be very big...
--
::Teresa Knezek::
teresa@mivox.com
http://mivox.com/