🥇 Top 3 - Best Bedding Materials for Ferrets - Types and Recommendations
Ferrets have unusual bodies and they need a proper place to sleep comfortably. This means taking your time to research and choose the proper bedding material for your little pet’s needs, regardless if they sleep in the cage or outside.
You can find good and comfy ferret bedding for any budget. This includes bedding made of newspaper, little re-usable blankets, fleece, cotton, etc. Ferrets sleep between 12 to 18 hours a day and they need comfy bedding to stay happy and healthy.
What are the best bedding materials for ferrets?
Now let’s take a moment and talk about what options you have available and what are their pros and cons. If your ferret is overly spoiled, he might even protest one of the best beddings on the market over that comfy fleece sweater you’ve been using.
Ferrets absolutely love sleeping in cozy places. This is why when you can’t find your little furry friend around your home, you should start with your bed, any place that has a cozy blanket, and even your socks drawer. They won’t hear you calling for them if they’re deep-sleeping.
When your furry little pet goes to sleep, he will look for the perfect spot to snuggle in. This leads them to a session of proper digging through the whole bedding until they’ve found it. And since their little claws are not a joke, the bedding you use needs to withstand them.
Paper and Newspaper Ferret Bedding
The cheapest bedding for small pets is always newspaper because it’s widely available. It’s safe for ferrets as well as it doesn’t produce any dust and is eco-friendly. But you should be careful about the type of ink used to print them. It’s recommended to only use newspapers printed with soybean-based ink.
Other paper-based beddings are also excellent for ferrets but they’re a little bit more pricey. They all differ in quality so you should be careful about what you choose as some paper products are not too great for ferrets. Stay away from the products that have a rough texture.
As long as the paper-based bedding is dust-free, it’s the best option you can find. It absorbs urine pretty well and is fairly easy to clean. More than that, the packaging of paper bedding is usually very tight. This means that while it seems like a small package, it’s actually much bigger when you take it out.
Fleece and Cage Liner Ferret Bedding
The best and most popular type of material used for bedding is fleece. It’s used by ferret owners all over the world as it’s very soft and quite affordable. It can also withstand your ferret’s claws, making it excellent bedding for ferrets.
You have two options with fleece-made bedding. You can use a few layers of fleece and make bedding on the ground or on one of the floors of the ferret’s cage. It’s not the best option but most ferrets are OK with it.
The second option is using it to make a hammock or invest in a ferret fleece hammock. They can be placed in the middle of the cage and offer your ferret more room to play. But the best thing about hammocks is that they offer your ferret the chance to sleep in the perfect position for their bodies.
When it comes to maintenance, you’ll have to check the fleece bedding for holes every time you clean the cage. Ferrets love squeezing themselves through impossibly small places and a hole can cause them to hurt themselves.
Cage liners are also very popular and are technically fleece as well. They are just sewed between two layers. The best thing about them is that they’re reusable and you won’t need anything else with them. You can just throw them in the washing machine.
You won’t have any trouble handling cage liners and they’re long-lasting. The ferret will also be free to dig around without causing any holes. Unfortunately, these products are slightly more expensive than simple fleece material and everything just tends to stick to them.
Cloth Ferret Bedding
Another ferret bedding that’s similar to fleece is cloth material. It’s affordable and very practical for homemade ferret bedding. You can use towels or cotton cloth to get the job done. It’s very comfy for your furry pet and absorbs urine very well.
Since this type of bedding is already present in your home you might think it’s the best option available. Unfortunately, despite their great advantages, cleaning is a little bit tricky. You’ll have to remove all the solid waste by hand.
Cotton cloth bedding also needs daily maintenance and it doesn’t have any odor-control properties.
Sawdust Ferret Bedding
Another cheap and popular choice is sawdust bedding. But you should only use it if you love having your entire home and clothes full of it, along with having a very hard time cleaning the cage properly.
Ferrets are very active so when you let them out of their cage to exercise, all that sawdust comes with them. They will even leave it on your clothes when you’re petting them. This bedding is known as the cheapest but it’s also the messiest.
Pine Shavings and Cedar Chips Ferret Bedding
Despite being some of the most common ferret bedding on the market, you should keep your ferret away from pine shavings. They have excellent odor absorbent and insecticidal properties. This helps keep the cage smelling better and keep the insects, bugs, and lice at bay.
Unfortunately, this also means that they’re having a serious effect on the sensitive respiratory system of your little pet. This can cause allergies, inflammation, asthma, and even changes in the liver. They’re also known to cause skin irritations.
The only type you can use is kiln-dried pine that doesn’t release any of those harmful compounds. This makes it safe bedding for ferrets.
Wood Shavings Ferret Bedding
Ferrets have been kept as pets or for ferreting for years, and the most popular type of bedding used to be wood shavings. But today we know a lot more about these amazing creatures and wood shavings are not the best choice.
Most types of wood shavings are not good for ferrets at all, especially if your pet needs trimming. The wood particles will cause the hair to get matted and create huge pain in the crotch area. They also don’t absorb urine and you have to change the bedding all the time.
Top 3 Bedding Recommended For Ferrets
You have lots and lots of options on the market and choosing the best one might take a little while. It’s very common to have to try at least 3 or 4 before both you and your ferret are pleased with it.
What’s perfect for your ferret might be too hard to clean for you and the other way around. This is why we searched for the most popular and well-reviewed ferret bedding available, to make your job a little easier.
If your ferret is litter trained and the material is very similar to one of these options, it’s recommended to pick any of the other two. Otherwise, you might get your ferret confused and he might have accidents where he shouldn’t.
Carefresh Small Pet Bedding
Carefresh Small Pet Bedding is easily one of the best options on the market for small pets, including ferrets. It comes in various colors, such as blue, purple, white, mixed, and brown (that makes the habitat look a little bit more natural).
This is a natural paper fiber bedding that offers extremely soft, dry, and comfy bedding for your small pet. The package is 56L and is split into 4 separate 14L bags to offer an increased level of convenience. The bags are lightweight and you will be able to maneuver them effortlessly.
The comfy fluff natural paper bedding is specifically designed for the sensitive feet of small pets. Your ferret will be protected against scratches and will be able to enjoy the bedding every time he naps. This bedding is great for tunneling, burrowing, nesting, digging, etc.
Ferret excrement smells very bad, especially if the ferret isn’t neutered. But this bedding has an incredible odor control that can suppress ammonia odors for more than 10 days. More than that, it’s two times more absorbent than shavings and you won’t have to deal with soggy messes when you’re cleaning.
Your little furry best friend has a very sensitive respiratory system. And this bedding is 99% dust-free and doesn’t have any harmful chemicals or dyes. When you’re using this ferret bedding you’re also helping to make the planet a better place as it contains a biodegradable material.
It’s very comfy bedding that absorbs urine well and comes at an acceptable price. But unfortunately, if you don’t pay close attention to what your ferret eat, this bedding won’t help you too much with the smell.
Kaytee Clean & Cozy White Small Animal Bedding
The Kaytee Clean & Cozy White Small Animal Bedding has all the characteristics necessary to offer your ferret a comfy nap. The dimensions of the package are 5.50in x 12.00in x 16.00in. This may not seem like much but it becomes three times bigger once you get it out.
This clean and cozy bedding is safe for a wide range of small animals, including your adorable little ferret. He will have all the space he needs to dig and play around until he finds the most comfortable place possible.
It has high-end odor control that can keep up with carefully-fed ferrets. If you give your furry friend fish, there’s no bedding in the world that can help you with the bad smell. This bedding is made of high-quality materials that meet FDA standards.
Thanks to the 99.9% dust-free formula, this bedding is excellent for the sensitive respiratory system of your ferret. Your pet loves getting close and personal when looking for a new place to nap and usually gets his nose buried in the bedding. This can be dangerous with dusty types of bedding.
With its capability to absorb twice as much urine as wood shavings, this bedding is great for ferrets that are not trained to a litter box yet. You will love this bedding for its absorbing capacity as it can absorb up to 6 times its weight in liquid.
This bedding is available in four different colors, including natural, blue CAMO, and purple. You can also opt for a type that’s lavender-scented or summer storm-scented. Some users have found that it’s not the most reliable when it comes to ferrets that haven’t been neutered yet.
Comsmart Soft Fleece Blankets
The Comsmart Soft Fleece Blankets come in a pack of six and the dimensions of one are 24in x 28in. It comes in 6 different colors with paw prints. These little blankets can be used for various small animals, from dogs to cats, to ferrets.
It makes excellent bedding for your ferret as it’s made with double-sided fleece material. It’s not heavy but it’s super comfy and soft. Your ferret can scratch and dig all he wants looking for a comfy place to nap, these blankets are pretty durable and long-lasting.
The package includes a black blanket with white paw prints, a pink blanket with black paw prints, a blue blanket with black paw prints, a grey blanket with black paw prints, a brown blanket with light-pink paw prints, and a white blanket with multi-colored paw prints.
This set of blankets are also reusable. All you have to do is put them in the washing machine and dry them up. You can even make a hammock out of them for your ferret. It’s a much more affordable option than buying a separate pricey ferret hammock.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best bedding for a ferret?
The best options on the market, that are 100% safe for ferrets, are the fleece material and paper bedding. Both are dust-free, comfy, soft, and allow your pet to enjoy his nap.
Do ferrets like blankets?
Ferrets absolutely love blankets, especially fleece models. They’re super soft and allow the ferret to sleep comfortably for hours upon hours. You can use blankets as bedding in the cage you use to take them to the vet. It will calm them down throughout the entire journey.
What do you put in the bottom of a ferret cage?
Ferrets prefer to live in comfy places so it’s best to use a soft and ferret-safe material as bedding on the bottom of the cage. But don’t use the same material you use in the litter box if your pet is litter trained.
Is pine bedding okay for ferrets?
There is a lot of misinformation around and you need to keep in mind that pine bedding is not OK for ferrets. Stay away from it as your pet is sensitive and pine can create various health problems.
