Are my ferrets to skinny?

[rat_hammie_lover05]

I'm not to happy because my long post dissapeared right when I finished  :mad: Anyway, I'll make this as short as possible. I adopted 3 ferrets about a week ago from a ferret shelter. Mia and Max are both 3 1/2 years old and Millie is 2 1/2 years old. At the shelter they were fed a mixture of Iams cat and kitten food. They seem vey skinny and they have very coarse hair, on Max I can feel his bones when I hold him. I have mixed Marshalls Ferret food in with their original food Millie eats this and the other two will nibble some, but they prefer the kitten food. I add Ferretone to the food and vitamins to their water. Millie's hair seems to be getting a bit softer, but the other two don't seem to be making as quick of a change. So I was wondering it they should gain more wait and what exactly would help this out?
Here are two pictures so that you can see how small they are.
This is Max:

and Millie (well at least her body  :rolleyes: ):

[Shar]

They do look a little skinny, but youre doing the right thing...I had a little girl and two boys from a shelter, and my sister had five girls and six boys...her biggest boy was almost 4 pounds, which is HUGE for a ferret, but it took a couple of months for them to look right, and several months and a molt for their fur to feel right.  Just love on them and feed them good food, I'm sure they'll love you for it.

[FerretDeprived]

I don't think you need to put vitamins in their water and ferretone in their food. Ferretone makes the food go rancid much fatser, so its by choice and wether they eat it fast enough that you add it .but I wouldn't leave the mixed food out for more than a day. The extra vitamins in the water with the ferretone might overdose them. If your feeding good food you should be ok without them. Ferretone can be kept as a treat and diluted with olive oil(1/2 ferretone 1/2 oil or 1/4 ferretone and 3/4 oil) if you don't mix with the oil i wouldn't give them more than 1/4 a teaspoon each a day. With the oil mix it can be 1/2 teaspoon if you mix 1/2 1/2 or 3/4-1 teaspoon with  the 1/4 3/4 mix.

Can i ask what shelter they came from? Did you get them right when they were coming in from being saved?

I'd get them off the mix of marshalls and Iams food. Those are both really bad foods to feed. Ferrets fed on Iams will always have courser hair. Here's a great page on nutrition http://everythingferret.com/nutrition.htm . If you need a chart that has a list of good ferret kibbles you can search around. They're everywhere ,but i also have a chart that i can pm or email you if you want. It's one of my favorites and very easy to read, at least for me. Just let me know.

[taku]

I agree with diluting the ferritone, and also make sure fresh food is available everyday. 8&1 ultimate has a high protein content. Also look into making a version of duck soup.  There are many versions on the internet..as a supplement. I think a thorough vet check would be great to rule out any diseases or parasites. Good luck..and can't wait to see more pics!! Ferrets ROCK!!

[rat_hammie_lover05]

I will stop the vitamins in the water and putting the ferretone in the food. I only put a little of it on a little bit of food and they eat it like they eat all right away and then lick out the bowl. Then I wash it out and give just plain food, butI'll just give it sepperate any way to be safe. I think I'll also use it with the oil.

They came from GCFA The Greater Chicago Ferret Association. They were there since March sometime I think.

FerretDeprived- I'd love it if you could send me that chart. 

Don't worry I will have more and better pictures of them soon. Millie's might not be to better unless I can get a picture of her sleeping, she's ALWAYS on the go.