Ferret wont use litterbox

Question
My ferret, Teddy, is a 3 month old male ferret. He has recently learned how to get up to the second level of his cage, but apperantly he does not know how to get down. He will stay up on the top level, but he will not come down. I could confine him and my other ferret to the bottom level, but he will not leave her alone and won't stop playing. He poops out of the top level of the cage, and it gets all over the carpet. Can you help?

Answer
Hi Ilya:

The first thing that comes to my mind about why he might not come down is: Do you have the ramp carpeted, or is it just plastic or wire, where he either slides or the wire hurts his feet?  If he is up there without food or water, you will need to offer him food and water immediately when you bring him down.  He may have actually either been scared (if the ramp is plastic and slippery) or afraid (if the ramp is wire and painful on his feet) to come down, so a little food and water will no doubt help calm him down.

Next you need to find someplace to keep them while you do some 'renovations' to the cage.  The ferret 'play pens' are a really nice place to stash them :-)  If you haven't seen them, you can get them at any pet store. THey are about three feet high and made of wire that is vertical so the ferret can't crawl up the sides. There are eight panels and they just clip together at the end - can be moved into just about any position and they are just really a nice item to have, especially a great place when you need a 'babysitter' while  you do things to their cage. Be sure to toss in some toys and food and water bowls for them, maybe a tunnel to play in, but nothing high enough that they can get up and over the sides of the playpen!

For either procedure, you will need to remove the ferrets from the cage and do this in another room so the ferrets can't "help" (oh boy, what would we do without ferret help? LOL).

PLASTIC RAMPS THAT ARE TOO STEEP:  cut pieces of scrap carpet (make sure there aren't loops in it) and use something like Gorilla Glue and some clamps to attach the carpet very firmly to the ramp. Let it sit outside (if its sunny) until it is good and dry before letting the ferrets back into the cage.  Make sure if there are any 'drips' of glue, that you remove them so the ferret can't get to them to chew on them or eat them, even when they are good and dry.

IF THE RAMP IS WIRE: you may wrap some wire all around the edges of the carpet and "sew" it to the ramp - making very sure that there are no wire ends sticking up where ferrets can get an eye poked out or get stuck by the wire. When you get to the end, give it half a dozen twists to be sure it stays, then - be sure to clip the wire real close to the twisted end, then clamp it flat with pliers and twist it under on the underneath side of the wire ramp at the TOP OF THE RAMP (so they can't get to it & be SURE no sharp wire ends are poking out anywhere). Also, do NOT use rubber or plastic coated wire - use just regular thin metal wire, so they can't chew on any coatings and get an intestinal blockage from it.

I think as soon as Teddy feels he can safely get up and down the ramp, you will see him zip up and down like a crazy man! LOL He probably doesn't feel safe to come down right now - either the wire hurts his feet, or the plastic is too slippery and steep. I don't know why most cage makers think that ferrets are monkeys!   Most of us have to adapt our cages in various ways to make them suitable for ferrets.

Also, while you're at it, be sure that IF you do have wire cage floors that you either keep lots of blankies on them, or you can cut plexiglas (thick hard plastic) to fit the floors, or even use carpet scraps and cut them to fit the floors so your ferret's feet don't get painful. Little ferret feet are very tender and the wire cage floors on various levels can really hurt their feet - even distort their feet terribly and make their feet terribly painful from walking on the wires. REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE:  FERRETS SHOULD NEVER BE WALKING ON WIRE CAGE FLOORS.....that's reeeally important. If the floors are wire, cover them with  heavy duty blankies (fleece), thick newspaper (but their feet will pick up the newsprint and white ferrets will turn dark from the newsprint), or sheets of plexiglas you can get from your hardware store, Lowes or Home Depot.

Now, about the pooping on the top level and having it come down the side of the cage and even OUT of the cage...a verrrrry messy problem indeed.  Trust me, you're not the only one who has had this problem!  :-)

Do you have a litterbox up there?  If you can, put a litterbox up there (even a small triangle one will work) where he is pooping. If there isn't room and you really DON't' want him to poop up there, simply clean the area really well, then cover the floors up there with blankies and toys and he won't poop on blankies and/or toys usually.

If that doesn't work and there there just isn't room for a litterbox, cut some newspapers to fit on the cage floor where he is pottying, so that you can easily change the papers and clean it up, then get some thin plexiglas (you can get it at Lowes or Home Depot or almost any hardware store) and cut strips approximately 4" tall, drilled holes in them and thread wires through to keep them in place UPRIGHT against the inside of the cage (be sure ALL wire ends are twisted and cut on the OUTSIDE of the plexiglas on the cage, so the ferret can't get hurt on them). Get the plexiglas good and low on the floor level and move the newspapers right up and turn the edges of the newspapers up against the plexiglas.  Now, any poop that hits the plexiglas just goes down onto the newspapers you have in place; or, more ideally into the litterbox that you have wired into place and can easily be cleaned up.  

However, HERE's the solution I'd use:  IF you do use a litterbox in the problem area (often those small triangle ones will fit in problem areas), be sure to drill holes in the upright part of the litterbox to keep it in place - cut each hole just the right size for a 2 to 3" long (good heavy) metal bolt to go thru then place the litterbox into position and push the bolt thru the litterbox (with the FLAT HEAD of the bolt INSIDE the litterbox), pushing the bolt towards the outside and THROUGH the litterbox AND the cage wall; then use about a 3" washer that the inside hole fits over your bolt (or as large as you can get) and a wingnut - place the large washer over the screw you are pushing thru the litterbox and cage wall, then attach the wingnut to keep the litterbox in place :-) The wingnut makes it really easy to remove the litterbox for cleaning.

When done properly, this works like a charm!  I've had ALL my litterboxes attached like that for years and it keeps the ferrets from moving the litterboxes around in the cage. Also makes it really easy to remove the litterbox for cleaning.  

If you can't use a litterbox in the area, the plexiglas and newspapers will also make it easier to clean the area  and keep from having and 'spillover' outside of the cage.

It can be quite tricky getting our cages situated 'just right' when we first get ferrets. Often we eventually decide that a certain cage just 'won't work' and we get another cage.  Martin's Cages makes really good cages, but I think you still have to get plexiglas cut to cover the floors (and boy does that make clean-up's easy in ANY cage - and it's easier on your ferret's feet, so TRY to find a way to get plexiglas floors onto any wire floors you have in the cage).

Hope these suggestions help. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

sincerely,
Jacquie Rodgers