Ferrets typically eat small rodents and birds in the wild. But they won’t shy away from a snake and will kill it and even eat it, especially if there’s no other food source around. They see them more as predators than prey and will kill them to keep their kits safe.
You can also find ferrets in the wild that eat the occasional snake, frog, or fish. It’s not their main food source but it can definitely happen. This means that there will be some complications if you want to have both ferrets and snakes as pets.
In this article, we’ll talk about the relationship between ferrets and snakes.
Do ferrets kill or eat snakes?
Ferrets can definitely kill and eat a snake just as much a snake can kill and eat a ferret. It all depends on their sizes. A ferret will see a small snake as a snack and a bigger one as a threat and will at least try to kill it. Snakes will always see ferrets as prey, especially if they’re smaller than them.
The good news is that since ferrets don’t typically eat snakes, they won’t go wild the moment they smell one in your house. They’ll react the same as sensing another predator. On the other hand, if you have a rabbit, you will have to keep it on another level of the house. Ferrets love eating rabbits and they cannot be left alone.
Don’t be fooled by the adorable little faces of ferrets and make the mistake of thinking they’re docile and calm creatures. Ferrets are excellent hunters and are much smarter than you give them credit. Even if the snake is slightly bigger, the ferret is fast enough to kill it, especially if it has kits around.
And since it killed the snake and it’s still meat, the ferret will often eat the snake. If the ferret can’t find any rodents or birds, it will start looking for snakes and frogs on purpose. In fact, one of the ferret’s distant relatives absolutely loves snakes. Mongooses will even risk their lives to catch a snake.
Mongooses give king cobras and black mambas a run for their money. They would rather avoid the mongoose in face-to-face combat. And keep in mind that king cobras are widely known as being very dangerous and the black mamba is the fastest and most venomous snake in Africa. Ferrets can be just as dangerous as mongooses and won’t back down without a fight.
Ferrets and Snakes – Can You Keep Both as Pets?
If you like both ferrets and snakes and you plan on getting both types of creatures as pets, you will need to prepare your home first. If you don’t have the necessary space, it’s better to avoid getting them. Just a simple door forgotten open can end into a nightmare.
It’s highly recommended to have a room for your ferrets and one room for your snakes. And whatever you do, make sure there’s absolutely no chance that they can get in each other’s room. You should make sure that the door of the ferret’s room is capable of keeping a ferret in and a snake out, while the door of the snake room can do the opposite.
It might seem an exaggerated reaction but you need to keep in mind that ferrets are incredibly smart and will do anything to get to their prey. And snakes can be quite smart as well. This means that you might want to be over-prepared than not prepared at all.
Most owners that have pets that shouldn’t know of each other’s existence in the house put them on different levels of the house. More than that, they don’t go to their snake in the same shirt they just cuddled their ferret in. While they won’t become violent, is best to not make them anxious and let them worry about where the danger might hide.
A great advantage is that both snakes and ferrets eat whole prey. So when you’re buying mice, rats, or birds, you can buy for both of them at the same time.
You should also be careful if you already have a cat. Snakes and reptiles are often named “Cat TV” as cats love staying next to their enclosures and watch every single move. It’s all harmless as long as the snake doesn’t make it out or the cat in.
But when it comes to ferrets, you should make sure they never meet the cat either. They react to cats the same as they react to snakes, and will kill another predator. And if you have small kittens, make sure the ferret is closed in its room as ferrets almost always kill kittens.
