Bedding vs. Litter Box

Question
I have the Dummies for Ferret book and am currently reading it; however, I cannot find the answer to my specific question.   Do you place bedding in the bottom of the cage if you also have a litter box placed at the bottom of the cage?   We have a three level cage.

Answer
Hello, thanks for your question! And may I say, I think it's great that you are reading up on your fuzzies! And that is a very good and complete book you're reading, I'm sure you've seen some of us recommend it a few times!

Well, with a three level cage you can do any number of things, however, I think it's always best to work around the ferret's behavior, things will go more smoothly for everyone involved. Ferrets from time to time like to sleep on the floors of their cage, even when they have perfectly good hammocks and beds galore. I think the reason for this is because it's their natural instinct to tunnel and go beneath things; I think they feel more secure. Also when it's hot or bright out, being beneath a platform in a cage is a nice, dark, quiet and cool place to nap.

Here's what I do, since I also have a multi-level cage: (my cage has a three-four inch deep plastic base, so it might be a little different for you) I put in litter so it covers about a 1/3 of the cage floor in the corners they use, and they go in that. The other 2/3 is where I put their bedding, and it goes beneath the lower platform, and they are very smart and don't ever go to the bathroom in their bedding, nor sleep in their litter. I use that Carefresh stuff, has worked fine for me and the ferrets seem to like it.

So I don't know how your cage is set up or if there's room to place bedding and their litter box at the bottom, I would recommend you try to put both if you can. (Of course keep them separate on either side of the cage, so the ferrets don't get confused! Also if you do do this, always keep the litter and bedding on the same side they were originally, respectively. Ferrets get very used to using a particular corner)

Hope I've helped answer your question a bit, please let me know if you have any more!

~sheila