litter training

[tinkersmama]

ok, yes, i know 2 years is a long time for them to go not being litter trained, but they just never took to it. HOW DO I GET THEM TO BE LITTER TRAINED?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! i'm getting so tired of having to scrape out the darn corner! so, any ideas on training the un-trainable? i have the high back corner litter pan, the litter, the scooper, everything i need to function with litter trained ferts, just without the litter trained ferts! i have tried putting poo in the litter box when i stick it in the cage, i have tried putting it in the corner they usually poo in, i have tried putting some of the old litter in the pan with the new litter, I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING I CAN THINK OF! please, someone HELP ME!!!!!

[mulder]

honestly, i don't have ferrets, but i've herad many times that most ferrets just hate the corner litter pans. get them a nice big square or rectangle one instead and see what happens

[Carissa]

Sometimes they just dont want to...i have 1 that will not use the litter pan! shes 9 and refusess..she will go next to it though. my other one is just litter trained him self.

[tinkersmama]

i've tried a square litter pan. they just dig in the litter like it's a toy. lol i'll keep trying though

[Fertmom]

I second that. We had a corner litter pan and it was a no go. Bought a rectangle tupperware box that fit the dimensions of one side of the cage and scooped out a side for easy entrance. Voila she likes it. I guess she likes having 4 corners to pick from instead of one

[tinkersmama]

i'm sure i have something around here that would work for that. i have tons of tupperware containers, i have to have something they will poo in! also, any suggestions on what kind of litter to use? i've tried about everything. the scoopable dust free kind, some new hybrid wood pellet litter, i've even tried just using the bedding, thinking well, they poo in the corner on the bedding, maybe they'll poo in the litter pan in the bedding. but nothing seems to work. I NEED HELP! lol

[Fertmom]

We use plain old clay litter, not the clumping kind. I know people say it is too dusty, but I personally don't think its any dustier than say carefresh or the wood pellets. Its worked well for us. Some people just use newspaper and change it often.
One other thing on litter training that we did is we make her go to the bathroom before she can come out of her cage. I tell her to go potty in her box. She goes in the corner and usually manages to squeeze out some poop lol and then she can come out. It cuts down on her deposits in the corners of our rooms when she is out roaming free. Luckily she tends to prefer pooping/peeing on the tile floor in the bathroom so it is an easy clean up when she is out. She has even returned to her cage by herself to use the litter box. She gets praise and a sip of ferretone if she does that. This took quite a while to accomplish because if she got let out without using the box (my son didn't have the patience to wait) then it took twice as long the next time. I tried to catch her using the box, praising her and then letting her out for a reward. Now she sees me coming to the cage and wriggles her butt in the corner almost immediately and waits to have the door opened

[Carissa]

For litter i use Yesterdays new..super obsorbent! lol

[tinkersmama]

thank you for all the help. they seem to like to play in the litter rather than poo in it. but i'll keep my fingers crossed. wish me luck! lol

[Turkeyman]

Litter training ferrets can be really challenging. The suggestions made here regarding the rectangular litter boxes are definitely right. Ferrets like litter boxes they can fully fit into. Granted, my ferrets use the triangular hi-back corner box, but that's besides the point. These litter pans are ideal:

http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/...CMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Do your ferrets poop in corners mainly? Or just anywhere? Because if they poop in corners, you've got the first step down. I would block off all the corners they usually poop in with stuff they really like. A bed, a nice T-shirt, their food and water bowls. Next, get poo and keep placing it in the litter box, along with a good quality litter like Yesterday's News. The key thing is to block off corners in which they poo and make sure the litter box opening is low and wide enough for them to step over and into the box. Praise and treats are also a must. Good luck...it takes lots of time...hopefully you'll get it.

If you can't though...for the "ferret room(I only keep them in there when I'm at school...other times they roam the entire place)" in my apartment I bought this sticky carpet protector that people would use when painting a room(it came in a 50 ft roll that was 2 ft wide). I just placed it all around the room, with a little bit of it riding up on the walls to protect the molding and the corners.

P.S. Just to let you know I don't have a litter box in every single corner where my ferrets poop. In their cage they are litter box trained, but everywhere else I just use newspaper. They always go on the newspaper and never on the floor underneath it...it's pretty convenient how they've became used to it.

Alright I guess that's all...good luck :}

[candyraver]

Quote: Originally Posted by Carissa For litter i use Yesterdays new..super obsorbent! lol

I use that with my rats as well Worth it.Be sure to buy the big cat bags.The bags for rodents are tiny things for the same product

Good luck!! I only had one ferret in my life,when I was like 9 -11.He wasn't littertrained.But I didn't know they could be littertrained when I was a kid.So I'm of no help

[christine]

I love yesterdays news!

[tinkersmama]

i couldn't find yesterday's news, so i got tidy cats. is that ok?

[christine]

i think it might be to dusty, is it the clumping kind? did you try petsmart for yesterdays news?

[Turkeyman]

If tidy cats is the clumping kind, it definitely isnt safe ;[. I would definitely find a pellet litter, because the clumping kind creates very fine particles that can irritate a ferret's fragile respiratory system. If it isn't in the store, there are plenty of places to order it online.