In response to James Garriss (re what to do about that other corner):
 
Since, I am a new subscriber and have not receive the FAQ yet, I
may be responding to a FAQ; my apologies if so.
 
> Why is it that they sometimes use the empty corner???
> The litter box is only 5.65 feet away!!  We keep
 
> So what am I going to do to keep them from going in
> that other corner?
 
I've had success with placing a large rumpled-up blanket or pile of
clothes in a corner in which you don't want them to go.  Some ferrets
will still go on the blanket (and then you're out of luck), but both
of my ferrets will not.  I think they think it's kind of a secondary
place to sleep.
 
As they do well, you can slowly take up any blankets.  When you have
no blankets down in their current room (and they use their litter box
really well there), you can expand their territory by adding another
(ferretproofed) room.  Expand their territory only as they do well.
If they make a mistake in a place, clean it up well and put a blanket
there if it was just a rare accident, or shrink their territory again
if they're totally out of control.
 
Using this method, my male companion Seldon has been perfectly trained
for nearly a year to inhabit all 3 rooms of my apt. (with no blankets
anywhere) using only one litter box (in the bathroom), and he never
makes a mistake (yay).  My female companion, Dors, has just been
graduated to these 3 rooms (I've only had her a month, so there is
still the occasional mistake in room 2 or 3, and I have blankets in
some of the corners again to remind her they aren't really a corner).
 
Perhaps this will work for your ferrets.  Some ferrets are harder to
train than others (Dors was harder than Seldon, and some ferrets will
go on anything).
 
The other thing I do is yell NO! if I catch Dors going in the wrong
place, and flick her on the nose; I do this VERY consistently, and now
if I catch her and yell NO! she runs for the bathroom (but the trick
is getting them to do it right when you're not there, and that's where
confining them and slowly expanding comes in, perhaps using blankets
for the rare mistake).  Also, when I first got her, I got up every
three hours and helped her use the right place for a few nights.
 
> bitter apple there.  We even treat them with Linatone
 
I'm not sure of the efficacy of bitter apple in getting them not to
use a place for a latrine -- it might just create a stinky smell that
suggests other stinky smells would be ok to leave there.
 
Todd P. Cromwell III
(206) 528-5952 [log in to unmask]
 
[Posted in FML issue 0608]