nutritional needs with age?

Question
I've written in before. I have 2 ferrets, one very laid back at 1 year 9 months old and the other about 4 months old kit; both female. I feed them the same food Zupreem, but they seem to react differently to the food. The kit has light-colored diarria half the time and the elder ferret has dark-colored constipated stool most of the time. I'm confused on whether I should change formulations of their foods or see a vet. But even if I do change the food, the kit insists on eating out of the same bowl as the elder ferret and the elder ferret gives in and lets the kit have all the food she wants. I know that the elder ferret treats the kit like her daughter so I can't exactly separate them for feeding time nor can I leave 2 different mixes of foods in their cage because the little one will eat all the food for the elder ferret.  Is there a special way to feed ferrets of different ages? ...like kitten formula -> cat food -> senior cat kibble... Should I separate them for a few hours for feeding specialty mixes and leave kibble out for munching? I'm more concerned about their bowl moments being irregular since the "exotic" vets around me don't see or immunize "exotic" animals like ferrets even though they advertise they do (I've called around). I just wait till I visit my family in another state to see a vet, but I'm worried about an emergency need for a vet. I'm trying my best to keep my little ferrets as healthy as possible as long as possible. I have spent almost 2 years obsessively reading information on ferrets so I'm no novice to ferret information.

Answer
First of all, I could obsessively read about performing triple bypass surgery for two years...but that won't mean I could do it.  :-)  Everything is learned through time and experience when it comes to ferrets.

Your ferrets are old enough to eat the same chow, one that suits both of them (and their bowels).  The older ferret is certainly not a senior, and even though the 4 month old is markedly younger, she doesn't need a special diet.

Zupreem is a pretty good food (we even feed the Big Cat Zupreem to our servals), but no two ferrets are alike and some do better on different chow.  You can try "8-in-1 ULTIMATE" by mixing it in a little at a time, then a little more, with the Zupreem over a couple of weeks until you get 100% 8-in-1.

DO NOT limit their food intake.  Ferrets have extraordinarily high metabolisms - whatever they ingest will be pooped out just a couple of hours later.  Limiting their food, or scheduling a "feeding" time can make your pets very sick.

I know you probably see this one coming, but do talk to a vet about ANY irregular bowels no matter who is eating what.  Irregularities in poop can be indicative of more complicated problems.

Stephenie