What can fatten Furby up?

[Anna]

Furby is my 5 month old beige. And he's really skinny. He has a hamster wheel that he's addicted to and he is on it all the time. Is he burning all the calories. He eats regularly but not a lot. He poops normally. Should I take out the wheel? He also drinks a normal amount of water.

 

[saphire]

For sure he will not gain the weight if he's on his wheel for hours, so yes I would remove it and allow a couple of hours or so a day.
I would also remove the hamster wheel is probably and replace it with a much larger wheel 17 inches if I am not mistaken or a flying saucer as the hamster wheel is too small for him by now.
A flying saucer and or the large wheel will be more appropriate for his size and avoid damage to his back.

 

[Anna]

For sure he will not gain the weight if he's on his wheel for hours, so yes I would remove it and allow a couple of hours or so a day.
I would also remove the hamster wheel is probably and replace it with a much larger wheel 17 inches if I am not mistaken or a flying saucer as the hamster wheel is too small for him by now.
A flying saucer and or the large wheel will be more appropriate for his size and avoid damage to his back.

Haha, sorry for the confusion Saphire, it is a huge wheel, for chinchillas. it just looks like a hamster wheel. I will try that, thanks!

 

[saphire]

hahahaha!

 

[tunes]

Is there a way you can set up the wheel so that he can have it during out of cage time? Until he gains weight, and at 5 months he needs all the calories he can get for his growing bones, I would not even give it to him for a couple hours a day. By only allowing him to have it during free range time, there are going to be other things that interest him as well, so he isn't just going to be running on the wheel the entire time.

 

[saphire]

Tunes even if the 2 hours is spread out?

 

[Anna]

Thank you Tunes!

 

[schweppes]

How much does he weigh?

 

[tunes]

Tunes even if the 2 hours is spread out?

It's still going to be 2 hours of hard running, plus, it's going to be a pain in the butt to put it in the cage, then take it out of the cage. It would be more convenient just to have it outside of the cage for run time. At least that would give him a break for a while and hopefully you can reintroduce it into the cage at some point.

How much does he weigh?

Weight isn't really a factor. The same age chin from different breeding lines can weigh 400 gm or 700 gm. What you need to check is if you can feel his ribs or his hip bones. Does his skin seem to be loose and saggy, etc. I also notice in an underweight chin, their neck seems to disappear. Their head looks small and their body looks much larger. It's hard to explain, but when you see it, you can't miss it.

 

[saphire]

thanks tunes