The Best Treats For Your Ferret in 2024 | (What To Give And Avoid)
Providing treats to your ferrets can help your ferret not feel bored by consuming the same things everyday. Even though the conventional ferret is way more nutritionally beneficial, ferrets can get irritated by it.
Ferret owners provide treats to their ferrets in order to cheer them up, during grooming procedures, when training them to use the ferret litter box , making them do many tricks and even to stop them from biting.
Some ferret owners also have noticed that providing treats to their ferrets help them create a good bond among them and the ferret.
Topics Covered In This Article
What Can Ferrets Eat?
Ferrets are obligate carnivores which means that their digestive system is made to only digest animal, animal based foods. This means that a ferret’s diet should not consist of plant, plant-based or non-animal based foods. The conventional ferret diet consists of meat, whole prey animals such as rabbits, quails, chickens and even eggs (occasionally).
Most of the ferret owners tend to provide high-quality animal protein as 30-40% of their total diet, fats from 15 to 25% (up to 30% for pregnant ferrets) and low in fiber and carbohydrates which consists of less than 3% of their total diet.
How to Choose the Best Ferret Treats?
When choosing a ferret treat make sure that it fulfills your ferret’s nutritional requirements and avoid giving them any treats that contain plant-based ingredients.
Look on the ingredient label of a ferret treat and make sure it contains animal based ingredients and no plant based ingredients. According to lexington veterinarian some of the ingredients to avoid in ferret treats are:
- Sugar such as corn syrup or sucrose
- Grain based proteins and fillers like corn or gluten
- Soy meal and soy flours.
The Best Commercially Available Ferret Treats
1. Atlantic Rush Marshall Bandit Premium Ferret Treats With A Ferret Toy
| What We Liked | What We Didn’t Like |
|---|---|
 Good flavor |  Expensive |
| Includes toys for ferret’s enrichment | |
| Has low amounts of sugar |
The Atlantic Rush Marshall Bandit Premium Ferret Treat is the best overall commercial ferret treat according to our research. This selection has a meaty bacon flavor which can be good for your ferret’s taste buds as they are more prone to eating animal based foods.
This has an included toy that your ferret can enjoy after having its meal. Having a toy means that are made for ferret owners in mind. This ferret treat can be given to ferrets of all ages so you do not have to worry if your ferret is young or an old aged one.
The Marshall Bandit Premium Ferret Treat also comes in other flavors such as peanut butter, banana, and chicken so you can choose the other if meaty bacon is not what you want to feed your ferrets. The peanut butter and bacon flavors are the favorites among ferret owners that we have asked during the review process.
The bag which includes the ferret treat is also sealable which ensures that when opening it once you can seal it until using it next time which ensures air or moisture not getting into the treat.
2. N-Bone Ferret Chew Sticks Salmon Flavor
| What We Liked | What We Didn’t Like |
|---|---|
| Value For Money | Ferrets can choke if not cut into small pieces |
| Great Smell | |
| Good Flavour |
The N-Bone Ferret Chew Sticks Salmon Flavor is a value for money option for a commercial ferret treat. This ferret treat has a salmon flavor in it which is one of the favorites among ferrets as they are used to eating salmon oil or salmon paste.
However this selection only includes a 3.74oz of ferret chew sticks and nothing else. The treats are designed in a stick format so when giving it to your ferret make sure to break it into small pieces so that it won’t get stuck in your ferret’s gut or mouth.
This ferret treat also does not contain high amounts of salt, sugar and contains no amount of artificial sweeteners and corn syrup. This ensures that this treat is healthy for your ferrets.
Ingredients
Water, brown rice flour, lecithin, natural salmon flavor, mixed tocopherols (a preservative), fish oil (source of DHA), vegetable glycerin, white rice flour, taurine, gelatin, fish meal.
Other Treats That Your Could Give to Your Ferrets
Salmon Oil
Salmon oil is the most popular type of ferret treat among ferret owners. Most of the ferret owners use it when cutting their nails, grooming, training them to use the litter box and many other situations. Salmon oil has a good taste and is even healthy for your ferrets.
Salmon oil also has benefits for your ferrets such as keeping their coat shiny and strong. There is no potential downside to providing salmon oil to your ferrets but make sure to only give it occasionally as it’s not good to use salmon oil as a meal replacement.
During the shedding seasons ferrets shed out their hair and accidentally swallow it. The hair then goes into their digestive tract which leads to it not freely flowing or getting stuck in it. To prevent this you can use salmon oil which can cause the hair to freely flow in the digestive tract thus helping itself get out when pooping or eliminating waste.
Our Pick: Pure Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil for Ferrets
Value For Money
Easy To Use
Softness
Easy To Dispense
Salmon Paste
Salmon paste is similar to salmon oil as it is also good in taste, healthy for your ferrets and does not have any side effects. Giving your ferrets a litter more salmon paste as compared to giving salmon oil wont cause any harm.
Before salmon paste was popular ferret owners used to give malt paste which is a paste given to cats by cat owners. The problem with malt paste was that it contained a lot of sugar which is a very bad thing for your ferret.
Raw Eggs
Raw Eggs can be a nutritional treat for your ferret due to its fat and protein content. A single whole raw egg that weighs 28.4 grams contains 3.49 grams of protein, 2.92 grams of fat which is a good amount considering the ferret’s nutritional requirements. It is one of the most available ferret treats that you could provide as it is also consumed by humans too.
The most common egg available in the market is chicken eggs but you could also try other types of eggs such as quail eggs, duck eggs.etc. When feeding raw eggs to your ferrets make sure that your provide the whole egg that includes both the egg yolk and egg white.
Giving only egg yolk or white can cause nutritional imbalances. Only give raw eggs or eggs in general occasionally to your ferrets as giving too much eggs to your ferrets can cause constipation.
Meat Or Cooked Meat
Meat is one of the most necessary elements of a ferret diet as ferrets can only eat animal based foods. Meat is actually treated as a meal for ferrets rather than a treat but you can provide meat as a treat to your ferrets. You can use meat when litter training your ferret, ferret grooming or even as a surprise to keep your ferret entertained.
You can also use cooked meat as a treat to your ferret but do not use any spices, salts or any additives as it can cause digestive upset to your ferrets. When cooking meat use plain water without any added ingredients.
What Treats Should I Avoid Giving To My Ferret?
All of the ferret treats that are available in the market are not good for your ferret. There have been cases where ferret owners gave them these treats and it causes their ferret to get sick, diarrhea.etc. The following are some of the treats that you should avoid giving to your ferrets
Any treat that contains fibers
Fibers are known to be bad for your ferrets because ferrets don’t possess the ability to digest them. This means that you should avoid giving your ferrets anything that contains fibers.
This includes fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, peas and lentils. Bladder stones can be caused if your ferret has ingested peas which can also cause the demise of your ferret if not treated correctly. Avoid giving your ferrets foods that mention fruits and vegetables in their packaging as ferrets cannot digest them.
Any Dog Treat
Dog treats are known to contain fruits and vegetables, flours which can be harmful for your ferret. They are also larger in size which makes them harder to eat for ferrets.
The only way to serve a dog treat to a ferret can be by breaking it into small sizes if it was ferret friendly. You can give dog treats to your ferrets if they contain animal based ingredients and without any inclusion of fiber in it.
Any human treats And Sugar
Human treats means things like chocolate, candy, sweets, or anything that is high in sugar. Sugar can be dangerous to your ferrets and can even lead to the demise of your ferret. Although humans have the ability to digest sugar but ferrets do not have the ability to do so.
There have been cases where a ferret has ingested some human treats and that made them very sick. Take your ferret to the vet immediately if your ferret has accidentally ingested any human treats.
Most human foods
Human foods such as coffee, tea, potatoes, peanut butter, fruits and vegetables can be dangerous to your ferret. The ferret’s digestive system and the human digestive system are completely different.
Additionally, human foods also contain a lot of sugar and spices which can be harmful for your ferrets. So when you are having something, think twice before giving it to your ferret.
Last Updated on 7 January 2024
Waman Nuka is a seasoned wordsmith and a passionate animal enthusiast with decades of experience in the world of animal care. With a deep love for all creatures great and small, Waman’s journey in the realm of animals started as a young boy exploring the lush forests surrounding his childhood home.
