The issue I'm having is that they don't use the litter box. I've tried corner, I've tried rectangular, I've tried putting food/water/sleep sack in every other corner - No dice. Using the towels seemed like an OK idea, except then they just poop on the floor of the cage - the tray. I'm not having any luck with ANYTHING. Everything reeks. They'll go in the box a couple of times, but that's it. I've been scooping it daily, so it's not a matter of it being icky. They just won't consistently do it.


I'm convinced that those of you with ferrets that go in the box like they're supposed to are living in a dream world that doesn't exist. 

Clicker and treat training can help positively reinforce what you want them to do. I am just learning about that and how to train them. At first I would let them loose and they would find any spot on the floor in my room, back up and drop off. Slinky started going on the newspaper my Chihuahua uses when Im not home whereas Rocket still found a corner. Yesterday Rocket went on the paper after smelling Slinky and I Clicked, praised and gave him a treat... after he ate it he went back on the paper and smelled his spot then came and sat in front of me as if looking for a treat... so I think it kinda made sense to him. It takes patience and attention. Im going to try a litter pan to see if its any different. Good Luck ZOETIC.

I've tried positive reinforcement as well. I don't understand - I've trained a dog to ring a bell when he has to go out. I had train my sugar gliders. Ferrets are smart. Why is this so blasted difficult?

I have to admit, I've had a bunch of ferrets and only a handful were/are 100%.  It's one of the major downers of ferreting.

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD

I'v take 80%. We're no where near that. 

The new little hairball, Feliks, loves to poop on the top shelf. And with the cage up against a wall, I bet you came imagine just how much fun THAT is... 

I'm honestly losing my mind with this. We rent. I'm cleaning up poop all the time from everywhere and scrubbing the carpet because I can't catch them every single time to put them into the cage. 

I will admit 100% litter training is not what most of us have. Pirate will use litter box 99.9% of the time only time he doesn't is if he is out and smells one of the others have gone in that spot and the nearest litter box hasn't been scooped that day otherwise he will use the nearest box or actually go back into his cage to use that one. In 7 years he has only missed the litter box inside his cage 1X and it was diarrhea so he wasn't feeling good that day. Morgan is a good 90% of the time as long as the box is clean and/or one is nearby she will use it. Captain on the other hand....is a piggy, he doesn't even find a corner sometimes he will stop in the middle of the floor and go. He was adopted by us so we had to deal with bad or no training before we got him. Actually the cage he and Morgan were in had NO litter box just wood shavings on the cage floor so they just pooped anywhere/everywhere. He has gotten better but we are at like 60%-70%. The thing that seems to work best is to let him out of the cage but put him right into a litter box. He usually just comes out w/o pooping but he usually has to go within the first 5 mins of being out so if we see him getting ready its a grab and rush to the nearest box. The other method was to limit cage space. Remove any shelves Ramps etc. limit him to only to 1 level litter box in one corner, food in another, water bowl in the other, sleepy sack/bed in the last corner. Most animals won't go where they eat/drink/sleep (again not always 100% true but true for most). If he moves the box and goes behind it then zip-ties work great for keeping the box where you put it. To avoid the poop running down the outside of the cage a piece of cardboard/plexiglass zipped tied to the outside of the cage will keep it off the floor (still have to clean up the inside) but at least it minimizes the amount of cleaning.

I got my baby boy Meechy about 2 months ago. He's only 4 months old and I would say he is 98% accurate, the only time he goes in the corner of his cage us when hes tossed one of his toys into his litter pan and is too silly to take the toy out so he can go in there. When he is out playing, he will actually stop what he's doing, run into his cage, use his litter box, and then get out to continue playing. (I have 2 other litter boxes outside his cage but he hasnt ever used them) The way i did it, was whenever i let him out of his cage i was on him like a hawk. If he even STARTED to back his little bum up, i scooped him up, put him in his litter pan, and blocked it so he couldn't leVe till he went! He is my first ferret, so I don't know how others do it, but it has worked for me! Now if i could just get him to stop digging in his water bowl >. <

If you have a water bowl on the floor of the cage, try putting in inside of a bigger empty bowl.  That will catch a lot of the spillage. 

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD

That is so smart... why didnt i think of thay lol

that IS so smart about putting the bowl inside another bowl LOL why didn't I think of that either?  lol
 
Joey and Daxy don't seem to like the water bottle because when they get out of the cage the FIRST thing they do is run to the water bowl in the bathroom and wait for me to clean it and fill it and then drink like they crossed the Sahara.
 
But Joey likes to swim and makes a mess - I'm going to try that Sunday when I get home!  Thanks!
 
Back on topic: :)
 
When I first had Roxy Heart and Gabby - Roxy ALWAYS went in the box and Gabby ALWAYS went beside the box lol at first I was like grumble grumble grumble but then I realized I'd be able to tell who's poop was who's if there was ever an issue so I didn't push it.  Suddenly Gabby started using the box like "oh THAT's what this thing is for!" lol
 
With Joey and Daxy now - I know they ALWAYS have to go to the bathroom shortly after waking up.  So I stay on them like a hawk and as soon as they start schooching into a corner or backing up  - with Joey I can say NO! and he looks at me, and I point at the cage and he's like "oh yeah!  duh!  my bad!" and runs to the cage.  With Daxy - when I see him I yell NO! and he stops and I have time to pick him up and put him in the cage.  The last few days he's been faking it once in the cage - assuming the position but not going lol and he's been really adamant about getting back out of the cage to do his business in front of the door - but I just stand there and keep blocking the way out until he can't hold it anymore and then he gets prasies for being a good boy :)
 
Patience, consistency and persistance are the keys.

Momma to
Joseph Francis Tribiani aka Joey Came to his forever home 9/26/2011
Daxter Chandler Muriel Bing aka Daxy Came to his forever home 7/30/2014

Waiting at the Bridge:
Gabby, Rylee, Maya, Roxy Heart, Goofy and Tig