Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my son a ferret for christmas. i have always had pets and was a vet tech for 4 years. i know how to care handle and basic training. he is approx 4-6 months old. my question is how do you get him to use the litter box? my sister got him for me from the pet store she works at and he was using the box there fine. i was wondering could this be behavioral because of new surroundings? or is it possible maybe he wasn't using the box at the store he was caged with about 5 others? any suggestions would really help. also i know about staple food, but as fara s snacks what is good, i know cooked beef and chicken are ok, but what fruits and veggies, cereals, cookies etc are ok or not ok. my son wants to share everything he eats with him. thanks i advance for any help.

Welcome & congrats! The best way to litter train ferrets is by using positive reinforcement. When you see your fuzz about to go somewhere he shouldn't put him in his box and when he's done give him a treat. I usually use ferretone for litter training. He'll soon realize that using the box is a good thing. You really shouldn't give your ferret fruits, veggies, or sweets. They're unable to digest these things properly. For treats try to stick to meats & eggs, ferretone, and laxatone. N-bones & cheweasels are commercially made treats that are fairly decent. I make a chicken soup for my ferrets that they think is awesome. That's the main treat at my house.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

The consensus seems to be that Totally Ferret is the best food but pet store ferrets are often fed Marshall Farms feed and ferrets don't switch foods well. Yours might be young enough to do it still.
Regarding the litterbox, ferrets have small bladders, short legs and shorter attention spans. Do you have enough litter boxes in your home? One per room is the minimum. Slowly expand your ferret's roaming spaces as he adjusts to using a litter box in each room. If he has a relapse, temporarily cut down his roaming area.
Sweet snacks aren't good for ferrets, as they're prone to diabetes (insulinoma). Stick to the snacks described above. Your ferret will sneak enough sweets as it is without being given any on a regular basis.

Performance Foods (Totally Ferret) has had too many quality control issues for me. I once donated a bag to a shelter and ended up having to replace all the other food that was mixed with it because it was rancid. That was my last purchase. I'll stick with Zupreem & 8in1 Ultimate.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

Good tips for the litter box training. I'd like to add don't use any clump litter or any pine or cedar litter/bedding. Myself, I use a paper pulp litter mixed with Yesterday's News. My main treat for my ferrets is ferretone. I put about 8 drops in a tablespoon of water and give it to them that way. This way it seems like more to them. Don't give too much of this because it can cause a runny stool. If you change to a different type of litter or food, do it gradually. Better chances of them getting used to it and liking it. For food make sure the 1st ingredient is meat. I use 3 different kinds mixed together. The one I like the most is Purina(sp?) kitten food. 2 of the 1st five ingredients are a meat product.
Insulinoma is the opposite of diabeties. They burn up their sugar too fast. Growths on the pancreas cause this to happen. I'm leaving a link for a good ferret website that can help with a lot of questions. It's called Ferret Central. It's good to get a lot of ideas on training ferrets because different things work for different ferrets.

I hope you have many happy years with your new fuzzie! Enjoy!!
Ferret Central

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Kat
Ferret mom to Jasmine and Daffy
A Cheesehead from Wisconsin

My experience is that some ferrets are just good with litter boxes and others arent. I have 4 and they are all different.

>Chase, my oldest guy who just got his adrenal gland removed, but hes still alpha- Will run back into the cage from anywhere in the house and use the "main box" thats on the ground floor of their huge cage.

> Angel, the only girl and the second oldest, will search out a litterbox and then back up right next to it and poop

> Max, my runty ASPCA ferret poops in anything thats not a litterbox

> King my angora, poops in the litterbox when its conveinant.

I LOVE MY FERTS!!!

angel