HI,
 
Been on th elist a little while  and though I would pose a quick questions.  I
have a female ferret, Silk, who is about 9 months old, that I am having a hard
time toilet training.  To give yo a short run down she lives in my apartment in
the large bedroom.  I have a cage which I leave open at all times, but she
basically stays just in the bedroom (As my roommate owns the apt. pretty much
and doesn't weant her out and about as he has expensive stuff).  Very playful
and is constanlty taking my keys, wallet and anything else that isn't tied
down.  But thats no problem.  As for biting she doesn't bite me at all anymore.
She will bite other people if she doesn't know them which is a bit of a
problem but not much of one.  She has learned not to bite my roommate or the
person I am dating so I think its just those people she is not familiar with.
 
I have always had animals and can put up with most things except one:  they
need to be trained to go the bathroom.  At the moment she has a small litter
box in her cage which she never uses (unless I leave her in the cage for a long
time for some reason).  I also keep a newspaper under the bed and intwo corners
of the bedroom.  These three spots seem to be the places where she always goes
the bathroom.  But she's not consistent and sometimes goes in other areas.
 
So I need to knwo some things.  First can she be trained to only go in one
place?  Better yet could she be trained like a cat to go in a litter box (or
low container) so that if I bring her to my lovers she will go in one spot.
Thats important as I am over there 5 nights/3 days out of the week and if she
can't be trained then there will be a major problem.
 
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.  I love Silk but there are a couple of
problems that will need to be cleared up if I am going to be able to keep her.
Part of the problem is that I have a busy schedule and don't have much time to
do training.  I do bring her to work with me and see her at least for an hour
each day, longer during the week nights.
 
Lastly there is a guy whos e last name is Burke who lives in MASS who has a
bunch of ferrets who I am trying to get a hold of.  I loft his number and
e-mail address and was hoping he might be on this ferret list.   If he or
anyone else knows who this is please contact me at 603-862-3003.
 
Thanks for all and any help,
Jonathan Adams
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[Posted in FML issue 0795]