ferret litter

Question
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANSWERING A PREVIOUS QUESTION IT WAS VERY HELPFUL BUT NOW I HAVE ANOTHER ONE. I CHANGED RASCALS- MY FERRETS LITTER CAUSE HE WAS NOT GOING IN THE ONE THAT I HAD. HE IS GOING IN THIS LITTER BUT HE IS DIGGING AND RUBBING HIS NOSE AND BODY IN IT I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO? DOES HE NOT LIKE IT SHOULD I CHANGE LITTER OR IS THIS SOMETHING HAT I CAN STOP HIM FROM DOING? I HAVE SEEN TRANNING CLICKER HAVE YOU HEARD OF THEM AND DO THEY WORK? ALSO WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BEST LITTER?

Answer
I'm so glad that I could help with your first question!  

A ferret's natural instinct is to dig and tunnel.. and what better is there than some nice clean litter to play in?  I don't think this behavior is because he doesn't like it.. in fact just the opposite.  He LOVES it.  

I've experienced the same exact problem, and I think that many MANY ferret owners face this as well.  Not only are ferrets tough to train, but they make messes out of the clean boxes.  

Here is my solution:

What I do with my guys is put the last poop from the old box into the new one.  Ferrets are VERY clean creatures and hate to be anywhere near their waste.  This should help stop, or at least inhibit the digging habit!  Another thing you could do, is simply not put down the litter box until he has to go.  That way, it gets soiled, and he will no longer use it as a personal sand-box. This tactic certainly works well, or at least it did for my guys.   

I'm not sure if a training clicker would work well in this situation.  While I don't doubt you could train him to stop digging when you are present, the moment you walk out of the room... in the box to play he goes!  Ferrets are devious like that.  

The litter I most recommend is Yesterday's News, which can be bought from any major retailer in the cat litter section.  You do not want to use clay based litter, since the dust can cause upper respiratory problems.  Also, any wood-chips are equally as hazardous.  Many contain harmful chemicals.  

Here is the Website for Yesterday's News:

http://www.yesterdaysnews.com/

I hope this helps!  

-Cindy P.