Recently, Travis and his family adopted Stuart and Lita (who are very cute little ferrets). They needed a little work on the “outside the cage” litter box training and I explained how ferrets learn best via reward. Since these two were definitely addicted to Ferretone, it was a convenient and easy-to-use treat to reward good behavior. I explained that if you could catch them using the litter pan and give them a treat while they were in the act (inside the pan), that he could increase the usage of the litter pan.
This is Travis’ description of what he did:
We started off first by taking them out and keeping a perimeter around them and the litter box, not a lot of room so they would go in the pan. We would put a small amount of the Ferretone near the side of the pan, something that would keep them close to the pan. We found they ONLY are going to the bathroom in corners, so we covered the corners so that they were angled, instead of a sharp corner. The only corners are the ones with the litter pans. We would only remove the perimeter after they went to the bathroom. After about the first week they got the hang of it. There are still the occasional mishaps, but it’s tolerable
So basically, what Travis did was set things up so the ferrets were inclined to use the litter pan. He didn’t use the Ferretone as a reward for using the litter pan, but he used it as a way to keep them close to the pan so they were nearby when the urge struck. Their actual reward was his removing the “perimeter” and letting them run around.
