Hello Jennie -- I thin I know how you feel. My solution has been to get started building a big BIG pen outdoors . There will be a tunnel fr the indoor fert cage through the wall and outside to the pen (!) so they can go out almost at will (I will have a way to block their movement at night and other times. My pet sitters refuse to return unless I do this! Cleaning the poop is just too much for them, even when the f's are not running around loose. I figure that the ferrets will like being outdrs and willl send plenty of time, poop and pee in the pen. I live in a deserty climate, and poop very quickly dries out in the sumer. The winer, on the other hand -- well I will soon be spending a couple of days cleaning up the enormous dog pen so i can get my grass mowed int there. Tis is a pretty drastic solution and costly too, but I think in the long run it will be great for the ferrets and me. RiccoRobertAdaTinaArtie [Posted in FML issue 4889]