Message Number: YG5956 | New FHL Archives Search
From: nurse_nic@yahoo.com
Date: 2001-07-30 21:46:00 UTC
Subject: Re: sand box

Well I thought I had found the perfect answer for digging ferrets;
puffed rice. You can buy it in the cereal section. I find that the
puffed rice had less dust and flakes than the puffed wheat. I put it
in a large tupperware container and let my ferret go nuts. He loved
digging and tunnelling but one day he got some in his mouth and
decided it made a very tasty snack and every time I put him in to
play, he'd just sit and eat. So that was the end of that... Maybe
your ferrets will decide to just play in it rather than eat it. Good
luck.

You have to be careful with soils as I heard some soils are bad for
ferrets (sorry, don't know which ones).

I would think that they would find the packing peanuts very chewy to
munch on, didn't your ferrets eat them?!

--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., yvon358@c... wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> This could indirectly deal w/health so I'm asking for suggestions.
I'm
> thinking of using a large plastic tub filled w/top soil to satisfy
my
> ferrets' love for digging. I've read that some of you use rice
instead. For
> some reason, I just can't get past the picture in my head of one of
the
> ferrets w/a rice kernel jammed up its nose. :P Am I being
paranoid? Seems
> like they'd have an easier time sneezing out dirt. Or, what about
sand? Is
> it dangerous for them to shovel through sand? I love watching them
tunnel
> around in my potted plants but, of course, its messy, bad for the
plants, and
> they have to get a bath. I prefer not to bathe mine too much if I
(they) can
> help it. Fortunately, none have taken an interest in chewing the
plants. I
> know most indoor plants can be poisonous. I've tried those
digestible
> packing peanuts, but they did nothing for my ferrets. Guess
there's nothing
> better than digging where you shouldn't.
>
> OK, now that ya'll are done laughing (have you ever seen a ferret
w/rice up
> it's nose??)... send some suggestions my way. Sand, dirt, or
rice? What's
> the consensus? Let me know positive and negative experiences. I
think Bob
> C. had a suggestion awhile back but I've since forgotten what he
wrote.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Y-