Ferret Potty Training Issues!

Question
Hi, My Girlfriend and I just adopted a brother sister pair of ferrets both about 2 years old and they have a 2 story cage that is very nice and has a fastened down litter pan on the first floor and when i bought them I was told they always use the litter pan. 2 weeks now they always go everywhere but the litterpan. they pee and poop all over the first and second floor and they do the same underneath my bed and behind my dresser and just anywhere on the floor, and even when I see them use the litter pan and i go to pull them out they poop the first chance they get to touch the ground and The family i adopted them from assures me they've never done that not even when they were first born and learning...i need help,very frustrating, i want them to be able to run loose in my room but it is a huge hassle to move the bed and clean and still have these permanent pee stains in the carpet...

Answer
Hi Jimmy & Girlfriend:

Congratulations on the new ferret family! It sounds like your little ones are a bit homesick...and some basic ferret information would likely be quite helpful.

Ferrets sleep most of the day, but need to be out at least 3 hours a day having interraction with their owners. They will *always* go potty approximately 10 minutes (or less) after they wake up.  

Never take them out of the litterbox - let THEM come out when they are finished (I suspect someone wasn't finished when you took them out of the litterbox). So, watch them closely and in the first few minutes out to play, if they start to back up into a corner, plop them gently into the litterbox and remind them 'potty good boy'. You'll be surprised that once you figure out their schedules and get a litterbox or two outside the cage, it will make all the difference in the world.

The other problem is that they need at least one and possibly two litterboxes in your room that are not in the cage. Leave the cage open when they are out, so they can eat, drink, potty or sleep when they want to, but having "outside" litterboxes will help remind them to use them instead of the floor.  Put just a small scoop of used litter in the new litterboxes so they get the idea that is what they are for...otherwise they may decide that it is a 'dig box' (toy). If you do make a 'dig box' for them to play in later, use children's playsand or dirt from outside, or even long grain uncooked rice (my preference) and put it in a box for them to have fun digging around in.

No doubt your kids are missing their 'old' family and they need you to spend a lot of time with them to let them know you love them and will take good care of them. Often when ferrets are re-homed, they will even die because they grieve their old home, so it's very important that you keep their food, beds, etc the same.

I recommend Nature's Miracle to clean up the stains on your carpet - it is an enzyme-based cleaner that will help both the stain and the smell.

One other thing you might consider - you can use newspapers in the corners of your room instead of litterboxes if you wish, but change them often (and litterboxes are really better if you can get them). Some ferrets won't use the new 'triangle' shaped litterboxes, so if your kids are used to a rectangle shape litterbox, make sure that's what you buy for your extra, out-of-cage litterboxes. Almost all ferrets who are even slightly trained will attempt to use a litterbox as long as it is available, is one they like, and they don't have to go TOO far for it, so keep them in view, in the corners of your room since ferrets usually do their business by backing into a corner. Anytime you see your ferret backing into a corner and they are not in a litterbox, pick them up, place them in a litterbox and say "go potty good girl" (or "boy").  

Inside the cage, they may still be adjusting to a new home. Always remember that ferrets will never pooop or pee on or near food, water or bedding....you can always scatter baby receiving blankets around on the floor if you don't want them to use it as a litterbox. There should be NO wood chips, etc in the cage - ferrets prefer blankies for bedding and the wood chips that some folks try to use for bedding is really hard on their little eyes and can permanently damage them.   If they aren't using the litterbox in the cage, could it be because it needs scooped? For two ferrets, you should scoop the litterbox morning and night and remove ALL poops AND all wet litter. If you have girls, they pee basically on top of their poops, so just scoop around the poops well.  If you have a boy(s), they will pee a few inches in front of their poops, so take a large spoon or scoop and dig a few inches in front of the poops to find the wet litter that needs to be removed. Ferrets don't like messy litterboxes, do it's really important to keep them very clean or they won't use them.

I would strongly recommend that you get the book "FERRETS FOR DUMMIES" by Kim Schilling. You can get it really reasonable on eBay or half.com, or pick one up locally if you can, but you really do need one.  It will tell you more about ferrets than I can cover here and the better you understand your ferrets, the more lovable they will be...and the less problems you will have. :-)

Here's a website that has a LOT of information on ferrets:

http://www.ferretcentral.org

If you want to, you can go to this website and just start reading the FAQ's.  When you finish that, you will have a better idea about ferrets. Then it would be really good to also read the Medical FAQ's so that you understand the many things in your room that your ferrets MUST NOT be able to get into or they could get intestinal blockages and other problems - pay LOTS of attention to the "ferretproofing" part, because if they are in your bedroom, they will probably try to dig/eat your tennis shoes, shoe insoles, etc and these are really really dangerous to ferrets. They cause intestinal blockages when ingested....as do several things they could find in a bedroom.  Better to know ahead of time and get the dangerous things up where ferrets can't get to them. Also, always watch the ferrets when they are playing and don't let them get underneath the bed or in the closet where you can't see them because they could be eating something dangerous.  Nothing soft plastic, rubber, foam, etc...socks are great to play with if they don't eat them.

Hopefully they are already on a good, premium ferret food such as Marshalls, Totally Ferret, Zupreem, Mazuri, Sheppard & Greene, Natural Gold or Path Valley Ferret Food. If not, you will want to slowly switch them over, little at a time, until they are eating a healthy food. NO SNACKS such as candy, sweets of any kind, gum, mints (watch out, they love to dig in purses and get these things) - they should ONLY eat ferret food and kibbled ferret treats (not the ones with dried fruits/vegetables in them)...and be sure to read the labels - no sugar or they will likely develop insulinoma problems later in life and be very ill. Make sure they always have FRESH water in their cage (changed morning and nighttime and wash the bowl each time). Also, ferrets never eat the whole kibble, they always leave little pieces behind and they don't consider the little pieces 'food' (dunno why, but they just don't) so be sure to fill the food bowl daily with fresh food also. They should be able to eat whenever they want to, so keep a full bowl available next to their water (if they use a water bottle, they would probably enjoy a bowl (non-tippable) as well - most ferrets prefer drinking their water from a bowl, but will sometimes play in it if they aren't used to having a bowl of water.

So much for a new ferret owner to learn. I can't possibly cover it all here - but it's really important for your ferret's wellbeing to learn all about them, so I hope you will make it a priority and read the FAQs at Ferret Central ASAP.

Best of luck with your new kids. They should settle down soon now. They do need just a few things and some simple rules for you to remember and they will be wonderful pets for you for years to come.  If I can help, don't hesitate to write again.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers