Hello.  I don't remember if I posted or not about our new babies after
Lorelei crossed the bridge, but we did get 2 new babies and still have
Lorelei's litter/cage mate Dee-Dee.
 
I am having problems getting one of the new ones (Max) litter trained.  I
did read the information in the ferret news letter about litter training
and got a larger box since he is a bigger boy.  Unfortunately I could not
convince them that this was not a place to play but a potty place.  I
even put some poop in there but the babies knocked it out and continued
to play.  So anyway, Nemo and Dee-Dee use the litter box every time
without fail, but Max will not use it in the cage that I have the 3 of
them in.  He will back right up to the edge and go, or go right beside
it but not in it.  I even tried moving the box to the corner he seems to
prefer.  I made the living space in the cage smaller and put bedding,
litter boxes (2) and food and water on one level.  Still Max would not
go in the box.  I have put him in a smaller cage by himself and he now
goes in the litter box every time (unless I let the box get too full).
After he did this sucessfully for a week, I reintroduced him to the
larger cage (still with a more confined area) and he went right back to
his old habits.  He is now back in the smaller cage and using the litter
box sucessfully.  I am wondering if maybe because he is picky about the
cleanliness if I should just keep him in his own cage during
cage/sleeping time or if there is something I am missing that might help.
 
The ferrets get a few hours (3-4) of play time out and about every day
and we try to spread this out to 2 or 3 times a day.  I do watch Max and
reward him when he goes in the litter box.  Once he has gone in the
litter box, I also give him extra play time.  I just feel bad caging him
separately but I do not want to spend every day for the rest of his life
cleaning poop and pee-pee out of the bedding and off of the cage floor.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
I also wanted to add that I purchased one of the hammocks from Karen of
Lighthouse Ferret Bedding and it is incredible. Very nice and also huge.
My little fuzzies love it and the crocheted eggs.
 
Dooks,
Danielle, Dee-Dee, Nemo, and Max
[Posted in FML issue 4454]