Or alternatively, “Why Almost All Ferret Branded Treats are Terrible For Them” 

Ferret Treats Visual Chart

• FC&E’s Visual Treat Chart is a small visual representation of some excellent *treat* options for ferrets that are 100% animal ingredients. Created and maintained by Tara Whitehawk.

Ferret Treat Doc - Doc created by Megan Carfino

Treats you'll want to look for are anything that have MEAT ingredients, and that's it! (Usually they are freeze-dried) No milk, no veggies, no spices, no flavorings, no weird words you can't pronounce. 

(As a warning, I wouldn’t use freeze-dried liver treats, since they have high amounts of Vitamin A and can cause Vit A toxicity overdose.)

Bandits treats (any flavor) have carcinogens and high sugar, as well as ferret chew sticks. Using these products are the equivalent of humans smoking. 

Some brand suggestions:

• Whole Life

• Vital Essentials

• Meat Mates

• Stella & Chewy's

• Orijen

• PureBites

• Hare Of The Dog/Cat

• Feline Natural

Some specific suggestions:

https://www.chewy.com/stella-chewys-beef-heart-freeze-dried/dp/177500

https://www.chewy.com/stella-chewys-chicken-breast-freeze/dp/177508

https://www.chewy.com/purebites-chicken-breast-freeze-dried/dp/35896

https://www.chewy.com/sojos-simply-lamb-freeze-dried-raw/dp/104470

https://www.chewy.com/wellness-core-grain-free-100-boar/dp/141797

By Holly

Salmon or pollock oils are great because the oil helps support your fuzzy’s overall health—including skin and coat, immune system, heart, cognition, fertility, vision, and other nerve-based functions. 

You should look for one with no added rosemary or anything else - the ingredients should say “Salmon Oil, Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative)” and THAT’S IT. 

A max of 1 tsp a week (no more than 1/8 tsp a day) - otherwise there’s a risk of vitamin A toxicity, and too much can be hard on the liver. 

There’s no difference between “salmon oil for dogs” or “salmon oil for cats” other than maybe the portioning suggestion on the label 😊. 

I would suggest getting a smaller bottle, since it can go rancid after a while. 

Ferretone and Furotone are acceptable substitutes if your ferret REFUSES to try salmon or pollock oil, but be mindful that Ferretone contains BHT and parabens, and Furotone contains multiple parabens. Both BHA and BHT have been proven to cause cancer, and are banned from foods in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and throughout Europe.

Some suggested brands: Grizzly, Alaska Naturals, Wild Alaskan, Well & Good, Zesty Paws, Icelandic Pure...

By Tara Whitehawk

Feeding 1- 2 raw egg yolks per week during the shedding seasons (when they are actively shedding) can greatly aid in the prevention and elimination of ingested fur in ferrets. Ferrets cannot *cough-up* hair balls like cats can, and ingested fur can form into lethal obstructions in their gastrointestinal tract. 

Below is a very simplistic summary of why raw egg yolk can help prevent and eliminate ingested fur: 

• The yolk contains lecithin and Choline (they work the magic). 

• Lecithin is a fat emulsifier, which emulsifies the fat binding the hairball(s) in the stomach (fat from foods is what binds the fur in the stomach to begin with). 

• Choline (and its component acetylcholine) improve gastrointestinal motility, essentially propelling the fur through the GI tract so it can move out of the body (laxative effect). 

• Biotin (vitamin B7) is found in yolks and helps the body utilize fats, carbs, and amino acids.

🐣SIDE NOTE: on the white of the egg: The white is not needed in this process of hairball prevention/ elimination. Also,the amount of avidin (a protein that binds to biotin strongly) that is found in egg whites has the potential to rob the biotin from your ferret’s body - causing a biotin deficiency if only egg whites are being fed (do NOT feed just the whites of the egg). Personally, I have stopped feeding the whites entirely because biotin is very important to the ferret and the white is not. The yolk contains a good amount of healthy biotin for your ferret, but, if fed with the white (whole) the avidin will bind to that biotin and your ferret will not absorb it.

FUN FACT: Eggs are the most bioavailable source of protein. Bioavailability means the degree to which your body digests, absorbs and uses food. 

ALSO FACT: To test if your egg isn't spoiled, prior to cracking it open, put it in some water. If it floats, they're bad. If they sink, they're good. If they sink but are standing up straight at the bottom, they're going to spoil soon (but still good) 

The following article has been copied from this link. All info is courtesy of Holistic Ferret and Erin Whitmore. 

An excerpt: "Pumpkin can certainly be immeasurably useful in emergency situations. It binds up stools, preventing prolapses, dehydration, and explosive diarrhea. It can push along minor bezoars (foreign bodies) in the digestive tract. But it is not the be all and end all of ferret nutritional supplements. It is a fruit, and needs to be treated as such.

We wouldn’t feed our ferrets watermelon daily, right? Or cherries? What about an apple?

Pumpkin doesn’t make sense for daily, weekly, or regular use. There is a reason it comes out the exact same color that it goes in."

By Holly

The smaller ones are fine (bigger bully sticks are just too big and the fuzzies won't even bother or will have trouble trying to chew on it) under supervision 😊 I'm always weary with things like bully sticks and dehydrated pigs ears or snouts, etc, because they're bigger and typically for dogs for intense chewing - this means they're basically rock hard and are meant to soften up with a lot of slobber and chewing. Since ferrets don't slobber or chew for the sake of chewing, I'd be nervous about splintering. Also a lot of ferrets have a smaller attention span and will just give up on them.

Ferrets aren't like dogs in that they don't chew for the sake of chewing. (With ferrets who are chewers, they're weirdly obsessed with the specific texture - it's not an instinct though). They chew meaty bones while they are eating, but I wouldn't recommend giving them dried chewies. However if these are a bit softer, that should be fine!

Avoid smoked meats too - even if you smoke them yourself and don’t add any seasonings. The smoke adds a lot of carcinogens and carbon to the meat. A dehydrator or freeze dried would be better for that style of treat.