Litter / Training

Litter

There are many misconceptions about what kinds of litter should be used with ferrets . The biggest thing to consider when deciding on a litter is the health of your ferret(s). Any litter that has clay in it (e.g. traditional cat litter) is not recommended for ferrets because it can harm your ferret in two ways . First, clay litter is sticky! This can cause the clay to stick to your ferret's feet, coat or behind as it scoots after doing its business . The litter can then be ingested as the ferret cleans him or herself or may work its way into the anal opening and cause a block or prolapsed rectum . It can also get into the ferrets eyes, nose and ears if you ferret decides to go snorkeling in it. When you mix clay with any liquid – including urine, saliva, tears, etc – cement is formed. These chunks of cemented clay can cause a wide variety of health problems for your ferret including an intestinal blockage (see Blockages/Hairballs). Second, clay litter produces dust. Ferrets have very sensitive respiratory systems and this dust can cause damage to the throat and lungs over a period of years. Other types of litter that are dusty are “scoopable" kitty litters and some wood shavings. There are also other types of litter that can cause respiratory damage over time, not because they are dusty, but because they contain “essential oils”. Cedar, pine and other wood shavings have not been processed in a way to remove the oil that occurs naturally in all wood. These oils release vapors, which then can cause the respiratory damage mentioned above.

There are many forms of litter on the market that are acceptable including corncob litter, newspaper, recycled paper litter ( in various forms either in a pellet form or a granulated form ), and wood pellets. One word to the wise, corncob litter and plain newspaper are not very absorbent and therefore will not absorb odor well either. Really, the goal of any litter should be absorbency, which recycled paper litters and wood pellets seem to do fairly well and in a manner that is safe for your fuzzbutt ! ! Although the most cost effective litter is wood pellets, hands down. PAWS members can get a discount on wood pellets at Little Lancaster (see also Membership ).

Potty Training

Training a ferret to use the litter box should be fairly easy as ferrets are generally very instinctual and habitual about where they go to the bathroom. When training a ferret to use a litter box, a reward system should be used (see Ferret Discipline ). Scruffing a ferret when they have gone outside of the litter box MAY be helpful in helping them understand what you don't want, but more important is getting them to understand what you do want! Do NOT rub your ferret's nose in the poop, they will not understand why you are doing this. Try Instead try a reward system for their good behavior rather than a punishment system for bad behavior to help this happen quickly. It is best to start this training at the beginning of a weekend or other time that you will be able to be home every 3-4 hours for at least 2 days straight . This is a process that takes some real commitment on your part but, if you are having problems with potty training, try the following suggestions and the outcome should be worth it.

At the beginning of the first day of training, wake your ferret from out of a deep sleep or watch for him to wake up but DO NOT take them out of the cage. Let them explore a bit and with in 5-10 minutes, the fuzzy should have to use the litter box. If the fuzzy starts to go in the wrong spot (watch for a lifted tail and backing up), be ready to grab him or her and move them into the litter box quickly. Once the ferret is in the litter box, don't let them out! This might be hard to do because generally ferrets want to go potty where they have chosen and not where we have, but try to keep them there until they go. AS SOON AS your ferret has finished and stepped out of the litter box, reward them with a few licks of Ferretone or other treat , praise, and a great big snuggle , and some playtime . Give them a few minutes of playtime and then send them off to bed again. Now, if your ferret went directly to the litter box, just go right to the treat, praise, hugs, and play and back to bed part. In approximately 3 – 4 hours start this process all over again. In the middle of the night, you can probably stretch this time to 5 hours but not too much more. After 2 or more days of this treatment, most fuzzies get it. If your fuzzy hasn't grasped the concept after 3 – 4 days, you may want to try another method .

There is another method you can try if you are having a hard time convincing your ferret to use the box. Start with a small-ish cage (at least 2x3) and add bedding, food, water and a litter box. Make sure that bedding and dishes take up three of the four corners. Put the litter box in the fourth corner with a little bit of ‘already used' litter mixed in with the fresh litter. Again, try to reward your ferret every time he or she uses the box until they are using it as close to 100% as ‘ferret-ly' possible!

Some ferrets will prefer a certain litter. If they don't like the litter they might not use it and you will have to find an alternative. Also sometimes , unbeknownst to us, a ferret has it's own reasons for wanting the litter box someplace other than where you put it…and let's face it, ferrets can be more stubborn than we are, which means sometimes…they win!