Yesterday, someone made a comment on the FML that implied it was more
difficult to train a 6 month old ferret not to nip.
 
I am not an experienced ferret owner, having only one that is about 6 months
old that I got at a pet store about a month ago, but I would have guessed
that at 6 months, that would be a perfect time to train a ferret on just
about anything.  That assumption is based on having previously owned dogs
and the best time to train them was about at 6 months.
 
I have been trying to train my ferret to use his litter pan and not to nip
for the last month.  From what I've seen on the FML, I expect it to take
several weeks to about 2-3 months to get him to really cut back on trying to
nip.  He often tries to nip when someone tries to pick him up or he nips on
my fiancee's leg when she is lying on the couch and he crawls up under the
blanket.
 
Should he start cutting back on the nipping over the next couple of months
as the training starts to take and as he gets older?  If any of you have an
opinion on the amount of time it should take to train him not to nip and how
his age affects training, please let me know.
 
I'm also trying to litter train him with limited success.  I am following
the guides on litter training in the FAQ and web sites, however it seems
that someone has to be with him constantly to catch him at every moment he
backs up in the wrong corner in order to pick him up, put him in his litter
pan, and give him a treat (usually ferretone, and sometimes petromalt or
apples - he loves all 3).  I put him in his pan and give him treats when I
am home (nights and weekends), but I often don't get the chance to catch him
when he wakes up.  He also seems to trick us and a full hour after he wakes
up when he is out of his cage for 2-3 hours at night when we are home (we
limit it as per the FAQ until he is better trained) and when no one is
watching, find a corner in the hallway to have another BM.  After a weekend
of solid training, he'll go a day or so and just use his pan, then all of a
sudden he'll stop using it for several days and go to another corner of his
cage.  On the weekend, I can catch him most every time he wakes.  After a
couple of days, he seems to be at about 80% in his pan, then he quickly
backslides by Tuesday.  Any ideas out there on how long this may take before
he is routinely using his pan about 70% or more of the time?  I've tried
putting food in that corner, bleach, even bedding, but he backs around them.
 
To give you an example of my frustration on litter training, Before I went
to work, I woke him up this AM and waited for him to back into a corner.
When he backed into the corner opposite his litter pan (which has some
droppings in it from when he used it about 50% during the night), I picked
him up, put him in the litter box, and gave him some ferretone.  He made a
small BM and so I then went and shaved.  When I returned to his cage 5
minutes later, there next to his litter box was a very large BM and puddle!
It was as if he has no connection between using his litter pan and treats.
Any guidance from you all on the attention, time and ferret age necessary
for good litter training would be helpful.  I know that "pan hit efficiency"
can vary a great deal from ferret to ferret, but some guidance from you more
experienced folks would be helpful.
[Posted in FML issue 1808]