Dani:
>I have hardwood floors in my new house, built in 1958.  I CANNOT get the
>ferrets to stop pooping behind the bedroom door.  It's not big enough to
>put a litterbox there, and I couldn't put one there anyway because that's
>where the closet door is also.  I've tried towels, food, time out, shutting
>them up in the bathroom for a few days to reintroduce them to the litterbox
>location, frequent cleaning, and probably a few more things I've forgotten
>because they didn't work.  I even put a towel and sprayed some bitterapple
>on it.  I've had ferrets for eight years and never had this problem.
 
I had the same problem in my old apartment.  The door to the walk-in closet
opened to the inside left wall of the closet ... a space of maybe 2-3
inches at most.  My three ferrets thought that would be a great bathroom.
Particularly so since they slept in a linen drawer on the other side of the
closet.  (What pampering to have an enclosed, private litter box within
walking distance from your nest!  Oh the life of luxury!).
 
I tried everything you did ... towels, sprays, timeouts ... to no avail.
So I decided the only way to get them to stop was to prevent them from
getting to the area in the first place.  In my case, it was easy to stack
a few boxes to get a high enough barrier to deter even the most determined
of my three ferrets (Rocky the Relentless).
 
In your case, you might want to make a stiff cardboard barrier that
attaches to the back of the bedroom door and sits flush against the closet
door.  That way when the bedroom door is open there is no way for your
ferts to get back there.  You may have to play around with design issues
to get a barrier that is proof against all fert efforts to tear it down.
 
Hope this helps!
 
Marc Wilson and the Tres Amigos (Rocky, Sam and Chloe)
[Posted in FML issue 3209]