>I love my little guys, Gus and Cap, but the litter box training just isn t
>working and I m wearing down fast.  ...
>2. Two months old
>3. I ve had them for a month
 
Sheen:
 
I think the bulk of your problem is that your ferrets are still babies.  The
things you've tried (limiting space, filling it with bedding, cleaning the
bedding often) are all good ideas, but I'm not sure one month for baby
ferrets is long enough to expect results.  I don't think any ferret I've had
from a baby got really good about the litter box until they were older.
 
One other thing I've seen regarding babies ... you need to let the poop
build up a bit in the litterbox.  I used to clean the box and then put some
feces back in to sort of mark the spot.  They're just little babies and
therefore cute little twits. :)  They need a *large* hint.
 
I really think if you keep up cleaning the bedding that eventually they'll
stop using the bedding and start using the litterbox.
 
Regarding what you use to clean up, I hope you aren't using bleach and
Simple Green *together*.  Personally, I'd leave off the bleach, but others
may disagree with me.  Cleaning with Simple Green (and rinsing well),
keeping the bedding clean, keeping their space restricted until their older,
and just giving them some time will do the job.  It's going to take a little
while, though.  Two month old ferrets are supercharged bundles of energy who
don't want to stop playing to do something so mundane as poop.  So they tend
to do it wherever they are when the urge strikes.
 
To give you a little perspective ... humans take 2 to 3 *years* to train!
Hang in there and hug your fuzzies for me.
 
--Barb--
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Barbara Carlson                   Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA
[log in to unmask]           Work: (412) 268-1342 Home: (412) 481-5927
 http://www.gsia.cmu.edu/andrew/bcarlson/home.html (under construction)
Thought for the day:
    If "boring women have immaculate homes," I must be very interesting!
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[Posted in FML issue 2118]