How much should my ferret weight
How much should my ferret weight?
Ferrets have a quick maturity system that he can reproduce at the age of 4 months. Due to their full size and ability and you can find ferret at the age of 3 of its midlife. Approximately the adult ferret weighs in the middle of 1-4 pounds and also depends on the gender with a height of 18 to 24 inches. In this article, we will know how much should my ferret weight.
However, the male ferret weighs 2 to 4 pounds. The height from tail to nose is about 24 inches and the female ferret is 1-2.5 pounds just and smaller than male and height 18 inches. So the 4 months old ferret is considered fully grown and acquires adult weight.
How much should ferret’s weight?
Ferret’s weight doesn’t count on age. As they are fully grown up at the age of 4 months with a life span of 10 years. Whereas healthy eaters or underlying medical conditions ferret loss or gain weight according to their diet or physical condition.
You can ask your vet and discuss the average weight and size of your ferret. According to gender as it shouldn’t have underweight or overweight.
Average weight and height
According to the research, the average ferret weight should be between 1 and 4 pounds if male and 1-2.5 pounds when female. The height of the male ferret is larger than a female ferret-like 18-24 and 18 inches measured from nose to tail tip.
Nutritional requirements of ferret
When you are petting ferret at home. You must consider a ferret’s diet on the top and acknowledge the things healthy for your ferret or just a waste to make your ferret overweight.
Sometimes people tend to give treats to their pet but they don’t know excessive treats can cause health problems.
The food you feed to the ferret should be full of nutrition. Provide them clean water and check it regularly twice a day. If the cage is outside the house then water shouldn’t be freezing.
Sometimes we have children at home who can feed the ferret things that are not suitable for them. Those items work as poison like (avocado, chocolate, and raisins).
What is overweight in ferrets?
The most reason for overweight in ferrets has been seen both in males and females. The major reason to become tired soon is that the internal organs need to work twice a day in obese ferrets.
Just like humans if ferret gains excessive weight the risk of developing health problems increases such as (heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis).
When his weight is used to define the excessive weight and accumulated 20% or above the normal body weight. The average weight of the male ferret shouldn’t increase from 5 pounds maximum and female even less to 3 pounds.
Symptoms of overweight
Accumulation of fats in ferret’s body is an excessive weight symptom as they are lean creatures. So gaining weight is obvious to their bodies. If you find out the ferret’s chin is thick and the belly of a ferret is dragging along the floor.
Then it means ferret has excessive weight. Just like humans overweight causes limbs strain and joints pain and make difficult to walk or move. Similarly, it happened with a ferret that gets tired easily. If the obese condition is severe can cause pain in the spine of the ferret.
Causes of bloating
While putting the ferret in the cage all the time. Feed him unhealthy calories and no physical activity is done by ferret causes overweight. Sometimes you may ignore your pet under some circumstances like household chores make you busy and feed your pet with negligence. However, the fatty sweet treats and the food contains a high level of fats can cause obesity in the ferret.
Whereas the female ferrets’ fatness can be a symbol of pregnancy and can be a red flag for primary health conditions. Which shouldn’t be neglected such as (hypothyroidism, hormonal conditions, and other changes).
Diagnosis of obesity
In case if your pet is gaining weight and has above-described changes. If yes, then you should have gone for medical tests of ferret by taking an appointment from the vet.
He will make some diagnostic tests to determine the underlying cause of the problem of excessive weight in ferret so the vet will request the following tests:
- A CBC (complete blood cell count)
This is a blood test used to evaluate the number of platelets, white and red blood cells in the body.
- A biochemistry profile
A blood test for checking the functionality of all organs and overall internal health of the ferret.
- Urinalysis
A screening of ferret’s urine to test infection, damage to kidneys and metabolic conditions.
- Ultrasound
Ultrasound is to check the pregnancy through an imaging machine.
Treatment of excessive weight in Ferrets
If you are giving your ferret a high-calorie food and less physical activity. It will create problems. You should follow the prescribed diet plan from vet to treat the overweight ferret for loss in weight.
With the diet plan, you should have given regular playtime to the ferret at least for 30 minutes a day. Also, shed some pounds so the weight will decrease each week. Don’t make haste to low it down. As it will directly affect the liver with stresses and your pet may have more serious issues.
Recovery in Ferrets
The over-weight ferret’s recovery is based on its age and underlying health condition examined by the vet. Once you are conscious about your pet’s health by establishing a daily routine.
Following is a balanced diet and providing a 30 minutes workout will manage the weight of ferret easily.
Ferret’s Weight along with age
With the age, ferrets have several changes like (tooth decay, hair thinning, and change in appetite, mobility, personality, temperament, and physical structure) all happen to healthy ferrets, not the ones who are sick.
- Physical structure
When ferret kits are born they only weigh 10-12 grams with eyes and ears closed and pinkish body without fur. But within 2 days the fuzz started showing. They have grown hairs at the age of 5 weeks and dependent on their mother.
The ferret’s weight reaches 200 grams at 4 weeks and they started blindly exploring surroundings and at the age of 6 weeks. They open their eyes and ears. By physical structure, the ferret’s body is fully developed as an adult at the age of 8 months.
- Nipping and chewing age
At the age of 4 months they showed up with maturity and in the 6th month, they should be socialized properly. They learn to decrease the nipping habit as this age will affect their whole life. If you won’t train it to stop biting it will adult as a non-socialized biter.
- Physical mobility
Every ferret has its own abilities. Once they open their eyes they are curious to explore the world around them. So the kit’s mobility is on the peak at the age of 6 months or 1-year-old sleep dead when tired.
- Behavior
If you want to keep your ferret healthy and interactive with playful behavior. Feed him healthy food as with the age its playfulness will decrease at the age of 4 years old. Distinguishing the kit ferrets.
Who can play for hours rather than a ferret of 5 years old. So aging causes him less physical activity like 30 minutes so the feed should be less. This is normal at this age so careful about the food you provide him.
- Coat change
Ferrets kits are born without fur and start getting their fuzz from day 2 or 4 normally. But get their full coat at the age of 1 year. So as they changed their coat twice in a year. The first summer they accumulate (short, smooth, silky coat) in autumn they developed (longer, thicker and fuller coat).
As far as they shed that thick winter coat in spring. So you must take care of their hair loss and do some remedy because ferrets ingest shedding hair when they groom themselves.
Ingestion of hairball can cause a gastrointestinal obstruction that may need emergency surgery to remove the clot.
Conclusion
Ferret’s weight is directly proportional to his age. As the young ferret is playful for many hours and old age ferret have less mobility. So better should take care of the food you provide them.
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