Can you use wood shavings as bedding for a ferret?

No, it is not recommended. You may see pet stores using cedar or pine shavings as bedding for ferrets. Cedar shavings harbor bacteria and can cause allergies and respiratory problems in ferrets, also pine and other woods produce dust.

Wood shavings are completely unnecessary for ferrets, you can use clean towels or old T-shirt for sleeping.

Cedar shavings, white and yellow pines, release volatile hydrocarbons which can affect animals. Plicatic acid, a volatile hydrocarbon, results in asthma in humans and rabbits. Other hydrocarbons result in changes in the liver, which may impair its ability to detoxify certain drugs, including various anesthetic agents. Scientists over the years have alluded to possible carcinogenicity in cedar shavings.