Ferret Toys

What Kinds of Toys Are Appropriate for Ferrets?

Finding safe toys for ferrets is always a challenge. We frequently make trips to children’s resale stores for safe toys. Your local pet store may have a selection of ferret toys, or at least a variety of dog and cat toys from which you can make appropriate selections. Check your closet too for reusable old clothes.

Store-bought Toys

An all out favorite is a 10′ piece of flexible PVC drainpipe purchased in the plumbing section of your local hardware store. Ferrets love to dive into them for shelter when chased. Cat toys are fine for ferrets as long as they do not have any small parts that might break apart with chewing and rough play. Check also for foam or rubber filling which may be consumed and cause digestive-tract blockages. Plastic balls, with or without bells, work well if they are not easily broken apart or swallowed. Hard plastic or tough rubber toys like dog squeeky toys or tennis balls are great, and it is fun to watch as the little weasles try to carry them off to a hiding place. Just be sure to monitor them and throw them away when they begin to show wear. Avoid brittle toys and soft chewy balls (like Superballs or racquet balls) as they are too easily torn apart and eaten. One of our favorites is a ball with a bell in it on a string which we drag around and wave in the air. Our ferrets leap and chase after it to the point of exhaustion (on our part!).

Homemade Toys

They don’t have to be expensive. Save your plastic grocery bags and throw them to the lions for loads of supervised fun. Old clothes, like an old pair of jeans or a bathrobe, are fun to play hide and seek in. Cardboard boxes with holes cut in them are great hiding places to snap at toes from. Assorted plastic soda and food bottles are fun to knock over (one of ours pushes them all over the house with his nose). Carpet cardboard tubes are great too, just make sure they are big enough so your ferrets don’t get their heads stuck, causing suffocation.