my three month old ferret won't learn to go to the bathroom in her litter
box and only in her litter box.  usually, she'll make a few (approx.2) poops
in her box, decides it's too full, and then poops around her cage.  i've
tried discouraging her by putting blankets and food in all corners of her
cage, but it doesn't help.
 
she'll go in her litter box when i'm watching, but at night, when we lock
the cage, she seems to forget.  i clean her litter box 2-3 times a day
because i know she doesn't like to go in a dirty box.  it helps that i clean
it out a lot, but she never fails to make at least one poop outside her box.
 
she always has the run of the house, and when in the vacinity of her cage,
she'll stop by and do her thing, why does she insist on being messy at
night?  is it revengefor being in her cage?  another concern of mine is that
she tends to go to the bathroom at least 3 times during the night, does that
seem like a lot to anyone else?  she eats totally ferret food, so the high
quality of her food should help reduce the amount she poops, shouldn't it?
 
her cage is has 2 ramps, and is quite large for one little girl, and i feel
like that may be one of the reasons for all her "mistakes".  maybe she
doesn't understand that upsairs is for sleeping and eating and downstairs is
for pooping, drinking and eating.  is her cage too large for her?  should i
maybe try blocking off the upstairs until she learns that the only place for
her poopy is her litter pan?
 
any advice would be greatly appreciated.  i really don't know what to do
anymore, and it's really a pain washing blankets full of excrement every
morning.
 
thanks in advance.
maria
 
ps- you can e mail me personally at [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1868]