Help with my ferrets and their cage!!?

@heartzablaze. Make sure you know what your talking about before you answer. Ferrets are NOT rodents (though I can't remember what they're classification actually is.. starts with M) and they are quite smart. They don't like to bury poop, their not cats. Mine just poops on top and walks away (makes it easy to clean!)

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. They are easy to litter train. Put a box inside, maybe a couple if they are having a hard time finding their way around, because a ferret won't look long for a litter box. Try to fill all the corners that don't have things in them, with food, water, blankets. Ferrets generally will not go near their food/water and bedding. They will ALWAYS go in the most private covered corner they can find. It's much easier with a 1 level cage because you can put their food in a corner, water in a corner, blanket in a corner, and litter in a corner and they have no other choice.

They will generally pick a corner to go in, so move the box there and clean up any accidents well so the scent is gone.

Your right to put the poop in the box and show it to them. Don't stick their nose in it or anything, but just pick them up and put them in the box (given they're not going to get poop on their paws.. just their front end into the box is fine). Also, when you first put them in their cage, put them down in the box.

If you see them using the litterbox, give them lots of praise by saying "good job!" in a sort of baby like way... the tone is what they will understand (a lot like a dog like that) and give them a treat., If you see them going outside the box, say NO! NO! kind of harsh. If you see them getting ready (they'll kind of reverse into the corner), pick them up and put them in the box quickly. Then praise them & treats.

My girl is quite good inside the cage and has NEVER missed, but outside the cage she's hit and miss. Outside is much harder because ferrets won't go looking for a box. If they don't know exactly where it is and it's close by, they'll just take the nearest adequate corner. You have to have a fewww boxes, I have 2 in my bedroom and even then she has some other favorite spots I've put newspaper down, and I'm sure there are some poops under my desk/under my dresser/in my closet. Using the method I've explain in the cage, she's gotten better but there is room for improvement. You kind of have to accept there will be messes but luckily ferret poop is small and easy to clean up. Just make sure to wash the areas that were missed with a good cleaner so there is no scent.

Ferrets love to dig, explore, and tunnel, so I wouldn't worry too much about them finding the way in the cage. They likely love it. My ferret runs around like it's a new room every time I let her out. I wouldn't try to help. Is it the kind you can like, expand or make smaller with different parts? Is it possible you could take 2 levels off for now? Then you could slowly expand it and change it around and add toys in. They should only have 1 or 2 toys in their cage and they should be very safe toys (no kongs or anything), and you should change them frequently for the out of cage toys. Some people even suggest NO toys in the cage but it's up to you. My girl just gets a crinkle tunnel in the cage because she likes to sleep in it too, i've offered her a hammock/tent but she doesn't seem intererted.

Watch your ferrets carefully for the first little while. I'm assuming you've ferretproofed but they WILL find new places to go. Mine managed to get under my dresser and up in to the bottom drawer.... Fine by me, since I removed all my clothes and filled it with old clothes and blankets for her to cuddle in, but at least I know where she is when she's missing (like when I have to leave and she's sleeping i hate taking her out because she's always so warm and cozy in there), and she figure out how to get under the dishwasher too!

Watch to see where they stash things because your stuff WILL start to go missing slowly. Mine has about 5 favorite hiding spots in my room and every few days I'll see her running back and forth rotating the stuff between it's spots. Just the ferret with a sock or a bag or a piece of paper (she's got one piece of paper she loves) just making trips back and forth between my bed and my dresser and my closet with something random, then moving something from that spot elsewhere... SOOO random it always makes me wonder why she picks certain things to go in certain spots. Like why a sock was Ok under my bed yesterday but today it has to be in the closet, regardless of how many times I take it and put it back under the bed, it still has to be in the closet, but a different sock has to be behind the tv. And 2 days later it's different. WEIRD.

OK, sorry, thats likely more info than you need, but good luck, and enjoy! I am not an animal person overall but I LOOOVE my ferret, she's like my best friend (or possibly my child), I'm already thinking about a second! Just ask me any more questions you have!

Oh definitely keep the cage you have. They're just babies, so they're new to it. But ferrets are extremely inquisitive and enjoy a good challenge, so they will figure it out quickly. And when they do, they'll have a great time with it! The more excitement, the better. You'll thank yourself later on for having a good cage and not a boring one. Just remember, they'll be very inquisitive outside the cage as well, so make sure you ferret-proof your home! They will find places to get into that you never even thought of.

Regarding the litter box, actually, it's moreso that you need to figure out where they choose to poop, and place the litterbox there. What I mean by that, is that ferrets tend to choose one corner of their cage to poop all the time, and once you know what corner it is, put the litterbox there--BAM litterbox trained. That's all it takes. I worked at a pet store for years, and we always had new baby ferrets coming in once a month or so, so I've seen this with allllllll the ferrets. They're not like other caged animals that just poop whereever.

Oh and p.s., a little tip, make sure you don't bathe your ferrets too much. Their natural odor will be intensified greatly by over-bathing, because that stimulates their skin to produce more oils (because over-bathing dries the skin out).

For the potty training, the cage you have is one of the worst possible... I don't mean to insult you, just stating the facts.

In order to properly potty train your ferrets, you need to take them down to single story living. This means that all of the shelves, tubes, and hammocks need to go. The proper setup for just the floor of the cage is the litter box (it should be square, not a triangle or else they'll revert once they get bigger) in one corner, food and water in another corner, and soft old clothes and fleece blankets in the rest of the cage (no Carefresh or wood "bedding").

This setup will make it so they can poop in the litter box or they can poop in their food/water or beds. Trust me, they'll catch on really fast. After 2 weeks of perfect potty use in the cage, you can add a single hammock. After another 2 weeks, you can add a single shelf. Just keep on doing this until the cage is completely set up again. If they poop on one of the shelves after getting them back, you need to take all of the shelves out and start again.

My first pair of ferrets took close to a year to have a completely set up cage with this method.

As for finding their way around, it's not all that uncommon with the cage you have. The plastic ramps are impossible for them to climb (how would like having to climb slick plastic ramps all the time?). Also, the angles of the tubes can make the ferrets twist and turn in ways they aren't used to. Be sure to check that they don't try to bend backward in those tunnels.

You could always trade in the cage and get a different one if you really wanted to. The one that I recommend is the Ferret Nation 142. It has about the same floor space as the cage you currently have. It's more expensive in most stores but it's completely worth it. The Superpet cages are designed to start breaking down within 2 years of purchase. A Superpet cage will become garbage within 4 years after purchase. A Ferret Nation cage is designed to last for 20+ years. Instead of the bars being made out of flimsy material, they are made with galvanized steel with an aluminum plating.

The Ferret Nation cages come with a lot of benefits. They are very easy to clean. Instead of having to take the actual cage off of the base and having to scrub for hours on end (Superpet cage)... The Ferret Nation is designed for easy cleaning. You open the doors (which offer full access to the cage), take out the floor pan and any bedding (again, cloth), wipe down any dirty bars, wash bedding, then replace everything. My Ferret Nation takes 2 hours a week including laundry time to clean. When I had a Superpet, it took at least 4 hours a week to clean and that wasn't a complete cleaning. Also, it's a lot easier to decorate a Ferret Nation. Several people make custom bedding sets specifically for the Ferret Nation. Also, the large doors make it much easier to hang hammocks and toys in the cage.

My newest ferret lived in a one level cage until I got him and I put him in the large cage with my other ferret he had no idea that he could go up or down the levels.

I showed him where the food and litterbox were and then put him in the play level it took him about 3 hours to finally figure out he could race up and down the ladders.

If you see any of them backing into a corner immediately place them into the litterbox and place any poo in the box eventually they will get the hang of it.

Howdy my fellow Texan!

When it comes to the cage thing, your ferrets will just take time exploring. I wouldn't worry about it. They are also babies. How many months? I have a new baby, he's about 2 mo.s old. Babies don't have the coordination and balance to really climb yet. BUT they learn SOOOO fast! All you have to do is show it to them, and they will figure it out from there. So to answer your question, yes, give it time.

For the litter box thing:

go ahead and scoop it and put it in the litter box. I put my baby in the litter box and had him face the corner he was supposed to go in. Once he smelled and saw what was goin' on, he went in the litter box. I had afew problems at first, with him going by the water bottle, but I think alot of that had to do with the fact that he was so small, weak, and didn't have a constant stool yet. (I rescued him from a local pet store. He was starving to death. Literally.) I cleaned up his messes ASAP. I don't want the smell to entice him to continue to go there. Once he built up his strength, he was able to climb into the box and go there. Sometimes babies and older ferrets have trouble climbing into the boxes. Just be persistent. If you let your babies run around your room, pick them up and have them go to the bathroom every hour or so. If they want to sleep instead, let them. Babies need their naps. And if you start making them use the litter box now, it will help with accidents later in life.

One user suggested that you move the box to the corner they are using. I personally have tried that and it didn't matter. That particular ferret just wouldn't use the box. I think she couldn't climb into it. Babies are easy to train because they are learning every day. As long as you are firm and consistent with them, I don't think it matters which corner the box is in.

Just on another note, make sure you babies are on some good food. Their development depends on it. Go and purchase "Ferrets for Dummies", if you already haven't. Its a good book that will walk you though the things you need to be doing, ESPECIALLY for younger ferrets.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Show them where their water and food are, but they will in time get used to the rest. As for litter boxes...I put one-two sheets of newspaper down on the bottom level of my cage and they seem to stick to that certain area. You can try the litter boxes, but I would go with the newspaper. Or...you can move the litter box to the area they have chosen for their bathroom, you must set up the cage to fit the mind of the ferret, hope I was of help.

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They will find their way around, they are just curious about everything. If they poop outside the litter box and you see them put them in the litter box, if you dont see them scoop the poo up and put it in their litter box they will see what you are doing and they are very smart it wont take long for them to learn what you want them to do.

Ferrets are rodents. They will not understand if you show them where to poop. Their brains are not big enough for that. They should want to bury their poop in the litter. That is a natural instinct, to bury poop.

As for the cage, just give them more time. They will figure it out eventually