Potty-Training?

Question
Hello Ailigh!

My boyfriend and I own two male ferrets that are approximately 10 and 12 weeks old. They are a COMPLETE joy and are much like our children. We got them in late May from Petco, they were the only two left in the cages at the time. They came from two separate litters and we assume it was because our older ferret was albino and undesirable. (Not to us, obviously.) I only have a one concern with potty-training.

Litter box-training seems to not be working for us when they are outside of their cages. When they are in the cage, they will use their litter box completely. Outside of the cage, they have an identical litter box with the same litter and everything, but they avoid it and urinate or defecate in all corners of our room. Not only is this disgusting and a hassle to clean up ALL the time, but its also concerning. We used the beads that they are attracted to as recommended by an employee at Petco who seemed knowledgeable about ferrets. Cutting to the chase, is there any way that we can get them to use the litter box and not the floor?

Thank you so much for your time.
~Jacqueline.

Answer
This is quite a common issue and it can simply be due to the large size of space available to them compared to their cage.  Try adding additional litterboxes outside of the cage where you are seeing them go and pay attention to their behavior - when you see them backing into a corner or they haven't pooped in a while, place them in the cage or in a litter box until they go.