>From:    Jody Gorden <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: ducan and digger
>i have never posted any messages before, but have been reading all about
>other ferrets, so, decided to add my two to the list.  ducan is a creamy
>colored little female, who is very thin.  took her to the vet, who checked
>her out and said she was fine, even if she is skinny, said she lost her
>baby fat, is this possible?
 
Ferrets come in all shapes and sizes, and it's hard to put a "normal" tag on
their weight.  I have one male, Spaz, who barely hits 2 pounds and looks
awful skinny.  He's like me... he can eat all he wants and remain skinny.
But, that's just our body style, metabolism, whatever.  Penny, our little
girl, weighs in a little over 2.5 pounds.  She's bigger than a lot of MF
females, but I'm sure there are plenty that are even heavier than her.
Then there's Beasley, our 3 pound male.  He's probably the average male MF
ferret in weight.
 
The best thing to do is weigh them weekly.  If their weight remains stable,
then you know they're ok.  If you start to see a gradual decrease, something
may be wrong.  Take into account the fact that they lose weight when the
shed their winter coat/fat and gain when they get it back.
 
For the ferrets,
Mike
 
* Michael F. Janke, [log in to unmask]
* Secretary, South Florida Ferret Club & Rescue
* A 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation
*
* Visit our web site:  http://www.miamiferret.org
[Posted in FML issue 2435]