I am looking for some things to give my ferret so that he has sometime besides his food. I have never given him any types of snacks. What are some things that they enjoy and are good for them?
2006-12-05 14:43:13 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
For a healthy snack you might want to start your ferret on BABY FOOD CHICKEN/TURKEY, about a tablespoon, once a day. He will get used to it very quickly and will look forward to getting each day. The advantage to this is, if he should get sick, this is what you will have to feed him and when he does, he will be used to the baby food and there will be no struggle to feed it.
Always provide her with fresh ferret food every day and fresh water and make sure it is available at ALL times. Fruits and vegetables are not digested by ferrets so do NOT feed her those. Also, ferrets are not milk drinkers and can/will get diarrhea, thus leading to dehydration.
One thing to remember is ferrets have a delicate digestive system and therefore introducing any new food can cause gastrointestinal upsets, such as diarrhea, therefore if you ever switch foods, PLEASE make sure you introduce the food slowly and always make sure it is a good quality food.
I am going to recommend a website below where you can locate a ferret rescue group (all animals actually) in your area that could always answer questions for you. Good luck!
2006-12-05 15:34:05 · answer #1 · answered by WashingtonGirl1 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
First off, ferrets are carnivores = meat eaters. They require a diet high in protein and fat and LOW in carbohydrates.
Fruit, vegetables, cereal, sugar, bread, candy = CARBOHYDRATES.
Ferrets have a short digestive tract(lacking the cecum) and cannot digest fruits and veggies and fiber very well. These things are of no real nutritional value to the ferret.
The idea with the baby food is pretty good. Get stage 2 (Gerber, Del Monte) Chicken or Turkey with Gravy. You may want to drizzle some FerreTone on it, to get your ferret more interested in it.
I sometimes offer a little bit of egg as well.
Now, as a treat and a treat only, for instance during training of a new trick, I will let them have 1/4 to 1/2 of a raisin or a single Cheerioh. You can also try a tiny piece of COOKED vegetable, raw may give them a bowel obstruction.
Other than that I stick with commercial ferret treats, though some of them are not really good for them either.
My oldest female will only eat her regular food and an occasional Yogies treat, so I let her have 1/2 to 1 a day as a reward to responding to the clicker or the squeaker.
I also use FerretLax as a treat once in a while and daily during shedding season. It prevents hairballs and all four of my ferts love it.
Hope this helped a bit.
You will find that there are about as many opinions on the subject as there are ferret owners.
One thing should be kept in mind. There seems to be a direct link between the amount of carbohydrates a ferret ingests throughout their lifetime and certain diseases.
2006-12-06 09:15:16 · answer #2 · answered by Huh? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When I had ferrets I gave an assortment of things. They liked cat food (now I don't mean a handful at a time, just a piece or two), peanutbutter (creamy style), and there are many tyoes of ferret treats that you can buy at pet stores or online, a good thing to do is every couple of days mix ferritone (skin and coat suppliment, liquid) in with their regular food. They will go absoulty nuts over this stuff!!!! Mine always did!
2006-12-05 23:54:55 · answer #3 · answered by n/a. 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mine liked pretty much everything. A couple pieces of bread crust and milk was a real treat, but make sure he gets exercise. They don't really need snacks. Mine loved playing "bumper ferrets". I pounded my hands on the ground and he'd hump up and dance. Get a harness and take him for walks in the woods. Again, they don't eat much.
2006-12-05 23:13:26 · answer #4 · answered by Crash 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I gave orange, grapefruit and cherries for a while, they got
sleepy. Then I changed to dried trail mixes. They did better
with that. Ferret snacks like juice like from snack boxes.
2006-12-05 23:16:37 · answer #5 · answered by mtvtoni 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
cheereos, fruit, dried fruit, peanut butter, baby food, and this isnt alot at a time just a little bit.. all seven of my babies love to eat... ferrets are great~
2006-12-06 01:09:13 · answer #6 · answered by amberrose_83 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They love peanut butter and it's good for them too since there meat eaters
2006-12-06 20:00:27 · answer #7 · answered by HotTherapist 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
meal worms and applesauce- we had 8 at the zoo I worked at that went nuts over them!
2006-12-05 23:02:52 · answer #8 · answered by D 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I had one and she liked to snack on my toes lol mine liked fruit.
2006-12-05 22:47:59 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋