Litter training problems

[rosdez31]

All my ferrets used the litter box till I put them in a bigger cage now someone does whatever they want. I cut off half the cage and that worked for a while but now someone is back to pooping in the tray. Any suggestions besides going back to a smaller space for a while?

[abbeytheferret6]

My lazy waardy would not go down to the first level at night to pooh. She would go in corner, so Ii put fluffy blankets or sheets everywhere on top floor and also put a potty in a corner. You can drill a hole in it and use a clamp to attach to bars. I have a lot of room on my Critter and Ferret Nation cage floors, as I got rid of all shelves and use a drainage tube to get from one floor to another. That means cutting three bars on bottom and three bars on top to run the route. I am not sure how people organize their potties on top floor with the hole in floor and with a shelf in there.

[peacexlovexpets]

How many boxes/how much coverage of the cage is by litter trays and how many ferrets are using it?

When I had just two ferrets, I could cover 1/2 pan in a double critter nation without accidents (so a large litter pan that covers half of the way bottom pan in the cage). When I went up to four ferrets I needed to double that (so a large litter pan on both the solid large pan of the cage and the cutout large pan of the cage). Also be mindful that a ferret will only back up to poop until they hit either a wall/corner or another mess (pee or poo), so make sure the pan is squeaky clean whenever possible.

You can try putting bedding around the areas that you don't want them to poo/placing food dishes or water dishes (not dig boxes, they will just poo in them instead) to make the area less "comfortable" to have an accident it. Another thing that helps is "scent training" them to use a box or potty pad. I do this by mixing a bit of vanilla extract in water and lightly sprtizing the areas they are allowed to pee in. This is great for free roaming ferrets as they can hone in on where they need to go, it also helps a lot if you run out of litter and need to switch to a different brand. Lastly, watch them closely and give them lots of treats! Ferrets like to poo right after waking up, so wake them up from naps and watch them wander around (be patient, can take 10 or more minutes). When they go to poo, make sure they are in a box, allow them to fully finish pooing, and then give them a treat when they walk out (if you give them a treat too early they will stop pooing and maybe end up having an accident shortly after).

[Sparrow]

May 15, 2020 23:39:56 GMT -5 rosdez31 said:

All my ferrets used the litter box till I put them in a bigger cage now someone does whatever they want. I cut off half the cage and that worked for a while but now someone is back to pooping in the tray. Any suggestions besides going back to a smaller space for a while?

I'm sure you've probably solved it by now, but what I did in my FN cages was put this litter box in the bottom, which takes up half the cage. I've never had another problem. Mine started off doing great in the litter box except for in the bottom of the cage, so I just tried this box on a whim and its worked. I guess they feel like the bottom just has too much open space since ferrets like to climb and they spend most of their time in the top of the cage.

[rosdez31]

I came up with a similar solution. I used an under the bed rubbermaid that takes up half the tray the don't move it as much and it seems to do the trick.

Thanks for your reply. Continuing older threads can be a great learning took for others so don't hesitate to respond to them 🙂

[Charlie]

I put a litter box on both levels in my FN cage. On the bottom floor I have blankets and towels everywhere so he won't poop on that.

[Sparrow]

Oct 3, 2020 13:57:46 GMT -5 Charlie said:

I put a litter box on both levels in my FN cage. On the bottom floor I have blankets and towels everywhere so he won't poop on that.

Yes, both of my ferrets have three boxes in their cages (each has 1 large one in the bottom, 1 lock-on high-back Marshall pan (I don't use the lock), and 1 regular high-back Marshall), one for each landing. Rumi pretty much uses the biggest one in the bottom as his primary. Taz uses all three pretty equally. 

[unclejoe]

We've had 3 boxes in the ferret nation for a ling time. Sometimes they don't feel like going up and down ladders at night. They often wake up with the urge to go and there isn't time.

[Charlie]

Nov 15, 2020 17:20:23 GMT -5 unclejoe said:

We've had 3 boxes in the ferret nation for a ling time. Sometimes they don't feel like going up and down ladders at night. They often wake up with the urge to go and there isn't time.

LOL so ture!