How to Make Ferret Treats

Ferrets are domesticated animals in the weasel family. They are carnivores and need a diet that is high in protein and fat, but low in fiber. They need to get their protein and fat from meat and do not digest vegetables and grains well. The following steps will show what treats to feed a ferret.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Base the bulk of your ferret's diet on specially made ferret food or high quality kitten food, but read the ingredients to ensure they meet a ferret's specific nutritional requirements.

2. Feed ferrets under the age of 4 a diet that is 32 to 38 percent protein, 18 to 22 percent fat and less than 3 percent fiber. Older ferrets should receive 2 to 3 percent less protein and fat.

3. Ensure that treats form less than 10 percent of your ferret's diet. Treats should never prevent your ferret from meeting the nutritional requirements provided in Step 2. Treats should be limited to about five raisins or pieces of cereal per day.

4. Provide Ferretone or Linatone in small amounts because they provide essential fatty acids. Good choices for treats that are commonly available in the house include unsweetened dry cereal, raisins, dates, grapes, bananas and sugar snap peas.

Tips & Warnings

• Use particular caution in giving your ferret sweets. These will require you to brush your ferret's teeth more often and you should never feed your ferret black licorice or chocolate. Onions are also potentially lethal and nuts can cause intestinal blockage.

Resources

• Learn more about taking care of ferrets.

[banditsmom]

on 5/15/2009 I heard that meat based baby food was a good treat. Is this true? Plz some1 let me know. Thank u, Melissa

[ferretlady]

on 8/9/2008 "Good choices for treats that are commonly available in the house include unsweetened dry cereal, raisins, dates, grapes, bananas and sugar snap peas."

I disagree with this; better treats would be small pieces of cooked meat, duck soup, or low fiber/low sugar treats sold in pet stores (such as N-Bone Ferret Chew Treats). Many experts advise against sugary fruit snacks, as they are associated with insulinoma.