This is by no means scientific. It is my personal opinion. When I'm hungry I eat. I can't imagine now ever being hungry and not able to eat when I want to. There was a period in my life when this did happen and it wasn't pleasant.... it was very painful for a time and I now have to deal with a medical condition that relates to this time. Did you know that after a certain period of time you aren't hungry when you haven't eaten for days and that when you try to eat you vomit? It's true, I've been there and I wouldn't want anyone else to go there. The ferrets that I've personally cared for that are obese are those that had been in a starvation state when they came to me (I'm guessing their systems horded fat calories in case of another starvation state) though not all became obese, or those that have medical conditions that cause obesity, or those that weren't allowed out of cages for exercise and they were obese only for a short time with me. I buffet style free feed the ferrets in my care. When they are hungry they have the food there to nibble on. I feed the foods they want to eat whether that is Totally Ferret, Marshalls, Ferret Store, Kitten chow, canned and allow them to enjoy treats as well as long as they do well, are active and happy. But we already know that I'm bad when it comes to food issues. :-0 My group is a mixture of body sizes and weights, not everyone has what might be considered the ideal weight and I prefer they be a bit chunky. The little bit of extra weight helps if they get sick or need surgery. And yes, I too am a bit plump. Hugs to all. tle Troy Lynn Eckart, F.B.S. Ferret Family Services http://www.ferretfamilyservices.org http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/ Please sign up to support our efforts http://www.iGive.com/FFS [Posted in FML issue 3966]