Litter Training Persistent New Ferret

Question
I bought a 3 month old ferret for my daughter 2 days ago. I have owned a ferret before but he was full-grown and litter trained when I got him. I put a corner litter pan in one front corner of the cage with training pellets and a baby blanket in a back corner for sleeping. The food bowl and water bottle are in the opposite front corner. She has a 2' x 2' 3-level cage with a hammock, tunnel, and slide. The problem is that she immediately chose the litter pan as a bed and eliminated by the food bowl. So, I bought another corner litter pan and filled it with bedding. She still chose to sleep in the litter pan with the pellets and eliminate by the food bowl. So, I placed the litter pan with pellets where the food bowl was and vice-versa. She still chose to sleep on the pellets and decided to eliminate in the empty back corner (which is hard to clean). I placed some of her feces in the pellets but she moved the feces over and again slept in the pellets. Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Christy:

Congrats on the new ferret!  Something doesn't sound quite right here...something I'm afraid might be more than not using the litterbox.

Ferrets 'imprint' on their food very early in life.  Ferrets, especially baby ferrets who have probably never been exposed to anything other than the food they are currently eating, are very very "loyal" to their food. It is really difficult to change their food from one brand to another....but I am betting that when you brought that baby home, they did not send you home with the right food that she has been eating in the pet store. Since she does NOT recognize what you are putting in the food bowl as FOOD, she has no problem pooping right next to it.....

Which brings us to the real problem that I'm concerned about.  If she does not see that as food, she will not be eating it. That young, a ferret going without food for 24 hours can be fatal. So, before we do *anything* about the litterbox training, we MUST absolutely make sure she is eating and drinking. Maybe call the pet store and ask what they feed and be sure you have the right food - if not, then get some ASAP. You may want to make some "soup" in the meantime that will help boost her appetite. Get some Hill's A/D feline (canned) from any vet's office. It is a prescription diet. A tablespoon or so with enough water to make it about the thickness of gravy, warm it in the microwave and stir with your finger to make sure it's not too hot. Refrigerate any that is not used immediately. Use within 24 hours or toss out.  This will also get fluids down her so that we don't have to worry about you losing her while we're working on the litterbox problem, okay?  The last thing we want to do is have a ferret suddenly turn critically ill when all our attention is focused elsewhere. So, do be very aware - baby ferrets eat a LOT and they eat often. If she's not doing that, be SURE to get some warm A/D 'soup' down her. If you absolutely cannot get any down her, get her to a vet because she can dehydrate and die within 24 hours of not eating/drinking.

Assuming that she is eating and drinking okay....we can focus our attention back on litterbox training again.  One thing we can count on with ferrets is that they will NEVER poop on or in what they consider their food or their bed.  So, it makes litterbox training really easy within the cage because we can put blankies (receiving blankets, t-shirts, nightgowns, whatever you use for your ferret to sleep in) all over the floor of the cage. Place the litterbox on TOP of the blankies and place the food bowl on top of the blankies. AS LONG AS SHE RECOGNIZES THE FOOD AS FOOD AND THE LITTERBOX AS A POTTY (put a few poops in to be sure she knows this is where it goes), this is absolutely a fool-proof system; you can't go wrong!  The only problem is, as I said earlier, if she does not recognize the food as being food, and if that's the case, your problem unfortunately is much worse than her pooping in the wrong place.

When you are ready to extend the litterbox training to a larger area - outside of the cage - start in a very small room, such as a bathroom. Again, spread blankets or towels all over the bathroom floor and sit in there with her and play until she gets 'in the mood' and uses the litterbox you have wisely placed in a corner of the bathroom. Immediately praise her and make a big deal over her "GOOD GIRL!!!" deed.  Once she has done this a couple of days, then move to a bedroom, but use at least two - maybe even three litterboxes in this room and watch her closely. You may even have to be at the ready to grab her up and plop her gently into the litterbox when you see her start to back up into any corner to go potty. As long as she gets into the litterbox (even if it's you plopping her in there in time), it counts and you can praise her for being such a good girl.  Praise always works better than shaming them when it comes to litterbox training. Always remember that large rooms require 2 or 3 litterboxes because ferrets just can't go all that far - they are like little kids who are out playing with friends and suddenly have to go potty *right NOW*. If there is a potty close by, they will probably make it, but if it's too far to the box, they may not even attempt to make it.

Hope that helps.  Litterbox training need not be a negative experience. It can be a fun time if you make it fun. In fact, if you make it fun, your ferret won't even mind litterbox training at all! A ferret who *wants* to please his/her owner is absolutely ideal for training.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers