Litter training - 2 months later!

Question
Hi Emilee,

My baby, Wilson Julius Woland Shapiro, is 6 months old and a generally sweet tempered smart boy. I've been trying to litter train him but I'm afraid I just can't provide the right motivation. He's fine in the cage because I simply put litter boxes in every spot he likes to poop and now he has no choice. It's when he's out of the cage that he makes me nuts and his behavior I feel is seriously limiting his playtime since I can't watch him and only him for 2+ hours a day every day forever.

To begin with, he never wants treats. I bought ferretvite by the makers of ferrettone, (believing that a sticky paste was easier to deal with than a liquid) and after putting it in his food once a day (I refresh his food twice a day) for a month, he always looks at me forlornly when it's the meal with the ferretvite. As a result, the only treats he'll eat from me are hand-fed kibbles.

That said, he will NEVER take a treat from me immediately after pooping. Instead, he runs energetically off under some furniture. I know he knows what the litter pans are for because if I do suspect a poop is coming and put him in a pan, he goes right away. I've also had success when he just wakes up by not letting him go more than a foot from the litter (standard cat litter/Hi-Bac ferret pan) and then he will 75% of the time climb in the litter and go himself. However, he has this bad habit of pooping next to the litter just when I turn my back. This happens even with the make-shift cardboard corner litters I've made myself which have only a 1-in lip in the front and are about a foot long on each edge.

It's been two months since I got him from Petco and I've been very diligent with him, monitoring at least 50% of poops during weekdays and 75-80% on weekdays trying to at least tell him he's a good boy when he goes in the litter and sometimes letting him out of my bedroom for hallway runs (his favorite reward, though costly because i have roommates).

Anyway, since I've been so patient with him for so long and his behavior has convinced me that he knows what the litterpan is for, I've been thinking of letting him miss the litter pan and then telling him `no!' and scruffing him and putting him in the litter just to make the point that he needs to do what he knows he should. I know it's not recommended to scold them for missing, but I just don't know what other options I have and I WANT to let him run free unsupervised in my (ferretproofed) bedroom.

::sigh:: Sincerely,

At wits end

Answer
Hi Danni,

I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but if he goes in the litter box most of the time, that is pretty good! Sometimes ferrets just miss the litter box. Unfortunately for we ferret parents, they aren't like cats who are basically programmed to go in the litter box and who cover up their poops, to boot!

I am so sorry to say that patience and diligence are what is going to pay off in the end. You should keep a little bit of poop in his litter box at all times to let him know that this is where he's supposed to go to the bathroom. Other than that, I'm so sorry, but I don't really have other suggestions.

If you wanted, you could try this cleaner called Nature's Miracle. They make a formula specifically for ferrets. Use that as directed where he has had accidents in your room. Keep it away from the litter box area, however, because the smell is a deterrent for potty breaks and you don't want him shying away from the litter box because of the smell of the cleanser. This cleanser works great for removing odors and stains as well.

I hope this helps and like I said, I'm so sorry that I couldn't be of more help. If you need anything else, please let me know!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews