Christmas Wishes

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Good luck keeping your fuzzies away from the Christmas tree and out of the holiday sweets!

Safe Cage Toys

Keeping a ferret entertained in his cage is a bit trickier than keeping him entertained during supervised play time. Anything left in a cage with a bored and unsupervised ferret must be nearly indestructible. Because bored ferrets tend to take out their boredom on the items in their cage, cage toys must be examined daily and discarded immediately if they begin to show signs of wear. Probably the greatest little invention (and perfectly suitable for cage play) is a thing called an edible ferret toy. Ferrets can chew and rip these toys apart, but because the toys are easily digested there is little concern over the ferret suffering from intestinal blockage. Another safe cage toy for a ferret is a set of plastic keys - the ones that are given to babies. These plastic noisemakers can be clipped to a cage and some ferrets will enjoy knocking then about. Boxes, bags and crinkly paper, though great entertainment for supervised playtime, are not at all suitable for cages as they can quickly become a hazard. Bags, boxes and crinkly paper are easily ripped apart, creating a situation where a ferret may get its head stuck in a hole and suffocate or panic and injure itself or it may swallow a piece of the material and become ill.

Penny Pinching Tips for Ferret Toys

There are a couple things that every ferret owners knows when it comes to ferret toys... 1) you can never have too many and 2) it generally does not take long for a ferret to get bored of its toys. For most people, buying a ferret a new toy every time their ferret gets bored of its old toys is not an option - doing so is costly and let's face it, there are only so many ferret-friendly toys to choose from! Here are some tips to keep your ferret happy without breaking the bank and filling your house with ferret toys:

• When your ferret gets bored a toy, take it away and wash it. Some people suggest washing it in vanilla or lemon water, but generally any non-toxic product that would change the smell of the toy is fine. Once the toy has a new smell, your ferret will think that it is a new toy!
• Try making sets of ferret toys, with each set containing a different variety and about three or four toys. When the ferret gets bored of one set, it goes in the closet and a new set is brought out.
• Cardboard boxes are great ferret entertainment. Once your ferret gets bored of the box, put in upside down or on its side and voila, a new toy! Once all angles have been exhausted, put some crinkly news or other paper in the box, add a ferret and a toy and watch the little critter go nuts! With one object you have just created 4 new toys!
  
• Worn out socks with jingle balls in their toes and knots around the top to keep the toy in are great for many ferrets - not only does the toy make noise, but it provides a toy for them to snuggle as well.
  
• Drier tubes, paper bags and jean legs are great fun for most ferrets to go tearing through, and they are generally cheap and easy to find.
• Bins filled with dirt, beans or rice which the ferret can dig through and (in the case of beans and rice) make noise with are inexpensive, reusable (for the ferret) and easy to make.

Ferret toys don't have to be fancy, they just have to be fun! If you are particularly creative and have any innovative new ferret toy ideas, feel free to add them!

Toy Tips

Ferrets need toys, right? But what sort of toys are ferret-friendly, and what type of toys do ferrets like to play with? Though every ferret has its own toy preference - some prefer hard rubber toys while others prefer stuffed animals, some go crazy for cat jingle balls while others prefer squeaky toys, there are some basic guidelines to picking toys that are ferret safe. Generally, any toy that can be easily torn or pierced, such as foam or cheap bouncy balls, are not safe for ferrets as their strong jaws and sharp teeth will enable them to rapidly destroy and possibly ingest portions of the toy, leaving your ferret at risk of intestinal blockage and leaving you with either a hefty vet bill or a dead pet. Another thing to keep in mind while searching for suitable ferret toys is this: if it can be cut off with scissors, it can be removed just as easily by a playful ferret. It is also important to remember that even though some toys are labeled as "ferret toys", they may not be ferret safe. Personally, I have had luck with dura-balls and kongs designed for small dogs. Some ferret owners buy and adapt small stuffed animals for their ferrets by removing eyes and whiskers as well as any other small parts that the ferret may remove. One of my ferrets went crazy for squeaky latex dog toys, but because these toys are so soft and easily destroyed, he was only allowed to play with them under direct supervision with the toy being taken away and checked for holes every ten minutes or so. Regardless of how ferret safe a toy may appear when you first purchase it, it is important to check the toy regularly for wear and get rid of it once it begins to show sign of ferret-caused damage - it is after all less expensive to buy a new toy than pay for an emergency vet trip! Now that you know what to look for, enjoy your search for toys and good luck!

Toy Time

All animals need toys - something to entertain and stimulate them; ferrets are no exception to this rule. Ferrets are highly inquisitive and and intelligent animals who need to be provided with a variety of different toys and stimulus to keep them entertained. If you don't find ferret-safe things to entertain your ferrets, they will find things themselves - unfortunately these things may be your most prized possessions and may be harmful to your pet. Remember: a bored ferret is a particularly mischievous and destructive ferret. Some people have a tendency to cage ferrets rather than entertain them, but caging the animal is not a solution as bored caged ferrets may develop deadly habits such as chewing fabric or wire, and these habits tend to result in expensive vet bills or even the death of your beloved pet. A better solution than caging your ferret when he gets particularly bored and destructive is providing him with ferret-safe entertainment both in and outside of the cage.