Digging in litter box

Question
Hi Ailigh,
I got 2 ferrets last December (Larry and Mary) and in July we decided to get 1 more to join the family (Gary).  Larry and Mary were well trained to use the litter box before we got Gary, but it seems like Gary just can't get the purpose of the litter box straight.  He is about 9 months old and very playful, except he likes to dig the litter box and stick his head in it no matter how soiled it is...and then he usually prefers to poop outside of the box.  So far we have mainly used a time out box (cat kennel) to try and deter the digging by scruffing him and putting him in the box whenever he digs.  After about 5 min in the box we will put him back in the cage and he usually just goes straight back to the litter box and start digging.  This will go on for a long time and it is sooo frustrating.  We've tried to satisfy his need to dig and burrow by filling a plastic bin with rice and letting him play in that when we let them out of the cage.  He loves the dig box, but he still digs in the litter box when in his cage (maybe it's too hard to teach him it's okay to dig in one and not the other?)

I'm at a lose for ideas to how to get him to figure out he can not dig in the litter box.  He seems completely indifferent to being scruffed and put in time out, but I don't know what else to do.

Any ideas would be great.

Thanks,
Cassie

Answer
This is challenging because ferrets are not always good at using a litterbox.  They are also natural diggers, so we have two problems combined into one and it can be an issue.  I would first suggest that you stop punishing him as punishment only works if you catch him in the act at which point redirecting him to the digging box instead of the litterbox.  I would try alternate litters as it may be that something less interesting (newspaper litter which is recommended anyway) may be less fun to dig in.  You may also need to put a digging box in the cage since they spend most of their time in the cage.  He could also be digging because he is bored, so try to liven up the cage and their playtime a bit.  There are lots of good ideas online for ferret enrichment.