How do you get ferrets to use a litter tray?

My last ferret used a tray in the corner & it was so easy to clean it out everyday.I found her on the streets so I never trained her to do that. I now have 2 ferrets 18 months old.They do it everywhere in their cage.If I put a tray in they tip it up.Cleaning them out is hard work compared to my old ferret.Is it too late to teach them to be clean & use a tray.If not how do I do it.

Public Comments

1. crazy critters,good luck
2. Not sure but how cute having ferrets lol. Have you asked ur vet for advice?
3. Move the litter box to the most used area of the cage. Hope it works nothing worse than ferret smell.
4. ok , i have four ferrets they all use their tray. use a heavy tray or pu some bricks in it they will mess in the corner so put the bricks opposite, when you clean the cage use jeyes fluid and when its dry put some poop in the tray and position the tray in the corner and put plenty of sawdust in and up the corner like a bank. repeat this for as long as nessersary , probably a week. good luck
5. What type of litter pans are you using? My ferrets despise the small triangle shaped litter pans. I switched to the oversized litter pans and once they were able to fit their whole body in they were more happy to use it. Some litter pans have small hooks on the back to keep it secure. If your litter pans don't have them... you could make your own. I drilled two holes in the highest part of the litter pan and used an old shoe lace to tie it to the cage. If the litter pan has a lip around the edges, you can tie the string around that part and tuck it into the lip then tie it to the cage. This will keep them from tipping the pan... but it may not stop them from digging. Make sure you aren't using too much litter, which can cause them to try and dig some out. Some ferrets are picky about the type of litter you use. If they don't like it, they won't use it. I switched to corncob litter and finally they were happy. Rabbit feed (alfalfa pellets), wood stove pellets, recycled newspaper, corncob and pine pellets are all worth a try. I would avoid clay litters since they can be dusty and harmful to a ferrets sensitive respritory system. When you clean your littlerboxes, save a small amount of wet litter and put it in the clean litter. This reminds them what the pan is for and will also be helpful in keeping them from digging. If they still aren't happy and still won't use the litter pan, line the whole rest of the cage with bedding. My ferrets refuse to use the bathroom on their bedding, so this left them only the litter pan. It didn't take mine long before they got used to the idea of using their pans and after about a week i was able to remove the shoelaces from the pans without them trying to tip them and I didn't have to stuff the cage full of bedding anymore. Good luck... I hope this helps.
6. this is probaby the harddest concept to get ferrets to do mainly just patience and each time he/she poops or pees give him a little treat like a bone or meat if you want to give him other things try raisins or bananas they love them
7. Your best bet is make sure the littler box is strapped down so they cant tip it...and put there bedding around the rest of the floor, ferrets wont poop where they sleep. Thats all the advice id ever been given, but comming from a mommy of two stubborn fur kids, I gave up honestly...I cover the whole bottom of the cage in news paper, its easy to clean, just roll it up once a day, wipe out the bottom, and lay down new paper. It keeps the smells down, its easy to clean and you dont get frusterated with all that litter crap, lol...good luck!
8. mine did it automaticly,well the female does,the male does it in the tray,but also...next to it,hes so lazy,mind u...he is male...lol
9. make sure the litter box is attached to the side of the cage then use some of the poop from their accidents and put it in the litterbox...they will smell it and use it...don't expect them to use it all the time...they won't...mine is a year old and will still occasionally slip up..drives me nuts...and place food, toys, or bedding in the places of the cage you don't want them to go on.
10. I agree with the person above that brought up the size of the litterbox - I have a couple that will use the small, triangular ones, but one in particular absolutely refuses to use that tiny litterbox. I bought some of the larger, Marshall lock-on litter pans. First, you have to keep in mind that most ferrets will not use the box 100% of the time (however, 4 of my 5 do use it 100% of the time when *in* the cage, when they're out and about, well, that's another story). Second, make sure you are letting them out of the cage enough during the day (I say this because them tipping the litterbox suggests boredom). And, no, it's not too late to train them to use the box. I adopted one at 3 years old and he wasn't trained to use the box, he's now one of the five that uses it everytime (while in the cage). Alright, now how to train the little rugrats - Do they seem to have a favorite spot they do their business in? If so, put the litterbox there. It might also be a good idea to provide two litterboxes in the cage. Next, put some of their poop in the box and show it to them. For some ferrets, this is enough and they'll start using it. Others require a little more work. If it doesn't work for yours, then the best way to train them is catch getting ready to go outside of the box and putting them in the box. They might pretend to go, but not actually go, so watch carefully. If they don't really go, just keep putting them back in their box until they do go. When they finally go in the litterbox, praise them and reward them with a treat. Sometimes this only has to be done a couple times, but I'd keep it at for about a week and hopefully by then they'll be going in the box most (if not all) of the time. You still might find a mess or two every now and then, but that's normal, so don't get discouraged. It might also help to keep the other corners filled with bedding (and by bedding I mean blankets, beds, etc. NOT litter-type bedding) and their food and water dishes. They won't go where they eat and drink and most won't want to mess up what they sleep on. Whether or not they use the box might also have something to do with their litter. So if they still don't seem to want to use the box, try switching the litter and see if that makes a difference.