My Ferret Ate a Cockroach Will He Get Sick?

Ferrets have fast become a popular pet around the world. Ferrets make fun, playful pets as they’re very sociable and just plain fun. These cute fur babies are extremely curious and playful and are similar to cats in dogs in many ways.

Just like cats and dogs, ferrets may sometimes eat things they shouldn’t. What happens if a ferret eats a cockroach?

What is a Ferret?

Many people believe ferrets are rodents; however, that’s just not true. Instead, ferrets are related to weasels, otters, skunks, badgers, and wolverines. While many scientists have tried to discover the true ancestors of ferrets, no one has really been able to pinpoint the animals whose descendants have become our pet ferrets. Some believe ferrets are descended from European polecats. However, no one really knows.

Did you know that ferrets are carnivores? This means they depend on animal protein for a healthy diet, rather than plant matter. In fact, wild relatives of ferrets are also carnivores, and regularly eat insects as a part of their normal diet.

Movement Towards a More Natural Diet for Ferrets

There are some who believe that pet ferrets will be healthier on a more natural diet. This means not feeding cat and dog foods to ferrets, as some pet parents do. In fact, ferrets are not able to digest grains, fillers, or sugars.

Ferrets require a highly specialized diet that includes:

• 30-40% protein
• Protein that’s high quality and digestible, animal based
• High fat
• Low in carbs

The movement to feed ferrets a more natural diet says including raw foods is healthy. Some people choose to feed their ferrets frozen or fresh chicks or baby mice. However, this isn’t always the best option. Others choose to feed their ferrets bones and raw meat in a mixture that’s made at home. Then others even give their ferrets treats of live crickets or other insects.

There’s really no agreement, yet, on what makes up a healthy whole diet for ferrets. A ferret’s natural diet would include protein from various types of animals including insects.

What if My Ferret Eats a Cockroach?

While it can be disturbing to think of your fur baby munching down a cockroach, this is just normal behavior. Your ferret may have had fun chasing the bug down, and then decided it was time to have a snack. Or perhaps he likes the occasional cockroach treat once in a while. If so, that’s OK.

Your ferret fur baby should be OK if he only eats one cockroach once in a while. He’ll be OK!