Monica,
 
Since your fuzzies use the litter pan consistently when they are in the
cage, you are off to a good start.  The trick that has worked well for us
is to make a very gradual transition from caged to free roam.  We made a
flexible barricade by attaching together several large boards of wood
with door hinges so that they could fold up accordian-style.  Using the
barricade, we were able to give our ferrets a small area consisting of
just their cage and about one foot worth of room space.  After they had
used their box consistently for a day, we gave them another foot of room
space, a little more the next day, and so on.  After about two weeks, they
had access to the entire room and were using their boxes with a good hit
rate.  As their living space got larger, we added more litter boxes in
the corners near where they liked to play and sleep.  This technique did
require a lot of rearranging of furniture to accomodate the barricade, so
be prepared for that if you decide to try it.
 
We do still have one ferret that doesn't enjoy going in the litter box but
is willing to go right next to one.  For her, we put some scrap linoleum
around the litter boxes so that her messes are easy to clean up and don't
damage the carpet.
 
Best wishes,
Julie
[Posted in FML issue 3601]