I have a female named Tinkerbell! I love her to death and I love to spoil her! I have ferret treats for her but she doesn't seem to like them and I can't get her to eat cereal, raisins or banannas - which i heard they all make good treats. is there anything not sweet that your ferrets love?? or that you recommend?
Answers:
A ferrets instinctual behavior is to learn what "food" is when they are very young. Believe it or not you have to teach them what to eat. Most people don't know this and end up with a picky eater. :)
Skip human food all together...ferrets digestive system is not designed to handle it. There are so many ferret treats on the market that it is not necessary to resort to people food. I have been known to slip my ferrets a piece of cracker, pretzel, or even a raisin (Shhh...don't tell anyone) but it is very infrequent.
Here is my suggestion: Buy a variety of ferret treats. I find that Bandits treats in the foil bags are an all around favorite. Also buy a tube of FerriVite. FerriVite is a "high calorie vitamin" that is practically irresistible to ferrets. Sometimes with a picky ferret you will have to rub a little bit on their mouth to give them the taste of it. Once they get the taste they are hooked. You can then start putting a little bit of the FerriVite on the treats. This will get them to try it and then VOILA they find they like it.
If all else fails...who cares! LOL It won't hurt your ferret if she doesn't eat treats. She is obviously content with her ferret food and with your attention. Maybe she is just plum lucky to have those things and doesn't even need treats!
Actually, anything sweet has to be given in strict moderation - too much leads to health problems down the road. Most ferrets like a bit of peeled cucumber once in a while. Even a piece of kibble from your hand is good. Mine also love certain cat treats - usually the ones that treat tartar problems. Other than that, it's cheerios all the way. One of them will climb my leg to get at them. LOL I keep a small bowl of them, w/o milk, on my desk just for them. Some like to lick peanut butter, others like a tiny bit of cheese once in a while. N-bones and chewweasels are good and ferretone is excellent, in moderation. It's like catnip for ferrets - they LOVE it. You just have to experiment and find out what yours likes. Good luck. Whatever she chooses, make sure, if it's food or fruit, that it's cut into tiny pieces to prevent blockages and try to stick to soft fruit and not too many raisin pieces - sugar content is way high.
I've bought all kind of ferret treats and tried them on all kinds of "human" foods. They never like anything. I've always rescued adults, and I know that ferrets imprint on certain foods when they are young. I feed Totally Ferret. I found out that they are very happy if I just give them different types of cat food as treats. This way they don't get too much sugar either. I usually feed them my own cat's food or get small bags or samples from the pet stores.
Susan and Alamahara are totally right, but they forgot to mention...
Ferretone!
I have *never* heard of a ferret not liking Ferretone! My 2 absolutely loooove it! =) I put it on their bellies to distract them when I'm clipping nails ans sometimes when I'm not clipping their nails. =) It's so cute to watch them try and get to it.
But if you do, follow it up with a little Laxatone or other ferret/cat hairball preventative. They (naturally) ingest some fur when they're licking their bellies and a ferret with a stuck hairball is not a happy (or cheap) ferret. =)
Happy treating!
milk makes become ill!!!
dont give milk its toxic!!!
I have a ferret too!!
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