We got this advice from a wonderful woman on one of the forums, on
potty training:

i've gotten a few stubborn rescues in ... who never saw a litter box
before me and i've had just about 100% success with the right training
and enviroment!

need to go back to basics first... think litter box boot camp!!

take out all shelves, hammies and the like.

lay down a single layer of fleece or baby blankey of your choice.
Make sure to cover the entire floor and up the sides slightly.

get a large litter box ... square.. NEVER try to train to those corner
things lol... mine all use dish pans ( you know those things that fit
into the sink) this gets fixed into the farthest corner away from the
door or other activities of the cage ( 3ft squared) with the eyelet/
dowel method, string, or zipties

large ceramic bowls for food and water go into another corner.

a hanging toy gets tied into a third corner just to get in the way of
backing up...

3-4-5 what ever it takes fleece blankets are then dumped in and spread
about to cover every single inch of floor space.. (even better if they
have slept in these blankets for a few days so they smell familiar)

fresh poo is put into the farthest corner of the litter box.

Next get a large cardboard box or something similar to drape the back
quadrant of the cage.. making that area darker and away from you and
possible distractions.

put ferret in box.. put nose to poo ( DONT RUB NOSE IN IT.. its
useless) just make sure they get a good whiff...

let go... MANY times they'll immediately back up and go .... high
praise time!

watch the ferret very carefully but from a distance... if you see them
back up .. hollar to get his attention .. dash over.. pick him up ..
put give him a whiff of the poo corner... dont let him out of the box
till he goes

if there ARE messes clean them up completely!!! immediately.. dump them
into the tray

when cleaning the tray for the first week only change the litter ..
dont scrub the box and always put a fresh poo in the proper corner
and give him a sniff when you put it back in place....

i've trained 3 week old kits, 12 week old hooligans, 2 yr old neglected
adult, 8 yr old elderlies and everything in between with this method...
keep with it.. it works

LORELEI

[Posted in FML 6789]