Live Life Team
Proper feeding of ferrets is essential to their health and well-being. In addition to high-quality biscuit or raw foods, the balanced ferret diet has plenty of room for the occasional treat or vitamin supplement.
Several brands of ferret treats are widely available on the market today, and some pet stores also carry edible chew toys for ferrets. These options are specially formulated for ferrets, and contain many of the nutrients, fats and proteins that are so important to a ferret’s diet. Raw or boiled bones are a favourite treat with added health benefits: ferrets get extra calcium and nutrients from the marrow, and chewing bones helps clean the teeth. Cooked eggs, chicken or turkey baby food, or a brand of dry food different from the ferret’s everyday fare, are sure to please. Ferrets enjoy fruit, but because their digestive systems are not easily able to process vegetable proteins, any fruit given as a treat must be soft and mashed, offered in tiny amounts on rare occasions. Soft melon, bananas and raisins are suitable for most healthy ferrets. Ferrets should never be given raw carrots, apples or any other hard fruit or vegetable. Even a tiny, undigested piece of any of these foods can cause intestinal blockage, bowel obstruction or other serious health problems.
Certain fatty acid or vitamin supplements, administered in sweet-tasting drops or gels, can also be used as treats. However, caution must be used when giving supplements as treats, especially for healthy ferrets whose diet consists mainly of all-in-one biscuit food. These complete ferret foods already contain appropriate recommended levels of fats and vitamins; overdosing these nutrients can lead to severe illness.
