Betty asked about kits taking food from the bowl, hissing all the way...
 
Why do they do it?  I can only hazard a guess... but I've noticed that mine
will do it only with a particularly tasty morsel, the selfish little brats
don't want to share!!  If I give mine raw meat, unlike with their normal
kibble, you'll be able to hear chirps, barks, and hisses while watching the
kits twist, spin and dart every which way to protect 'their' morsel.
 
It could be a result of their being times when they went hungry as kits
(e.g. food bowl becoming empty and not being filled for a few hours) or
it could just be that they like this particular food, and want it all to
themselves ;o)
 
Kits *are* adorable when they're little with their first experiences with
mush... I've laughed at them while they literally swam in their food, and
have received many 'black looks' from the jills as they have to tidy up
after the kits!
 
Kits eat, and eat and eat and... Mine tend to go through approx 15lbs of
Iams a week!!  They aren't guinea pigs - they eat more like full grown
pigs!!  Since you've had them for almost three months, they should be
eating somewhat less now as they reach closer to full growth.
 
Are they caged for periods of time?  If so, maybe making their cage as open
as possible, with few areas for food to be stashed... Making sure their
main food bowl is always full... Perhaps a large bowl could help.  If
they're already improving, it may be just a 'phase' they're going through.
In which case they should gradually improve anyway!  However, added
training won't hurt either way ;o)
 
I have heard of ferrets waiting in line to eat (alpha first etc) however
mine all tend to chomp in at once ;o)  My kits do, on occasion, take a
mouthful of kibble and take it away to eat, however, these times are few
and far between, and normally when the bowl starts running low (it happens
when they eat this much!  I tend to have to refill a large bowl twice a day
right now <sigh>)  If they have a small bowl, maybe they feel a little less
secure with the amount in there and a larger bowl will help... If they're
in love with the food and want to feel selfish with it, well... I'm not
sure what you can do to waylay that problem!!  LOL
 
Good luck,
 
Sam
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[Posted in FML issue 2577]