Oh no…not again! That’s right, you thought you knew how to train a ferret and yet your beloved furry friend has once again decided to use your new shag rug as their toilet…oh joy… not!
As much as you may love your ferret their toilet habits will strain your relationship, and be a constant source of annoyance and frustration for you. I hope that by the end of this article your ferret toilet training problems will be solved.:)
How To Train A Ferret Not To Pee On Your Rug – 3 Practical Steps
1) How to train a ferret using reinforcement – Ferrets are like most other living creatures, in that they can be influenced by positive or negative reinforcement. To make this work you must ensure that every time your ferret makes a nasty mess on your floor that you punish them in some way, perhaps a smack or an authoritative « NO! ». On the other hand when they use their litter box you must reward them, perhaps with food or a tummy rub(my youngest girl Rosie’s favorite).
The trick to reinforcement is to ensure that they are punished or rewarded immediately after they have gone to the toilet to ensure that they associate peeing on your rug with bad feelings and reactions from you, and good feelings when they use their litter box. Over time they will learn to use their box exclusively.:)
2) How to train a ferret to use a litter box – A big thing you must do to ensure your ferret does not pee on your carpet is to make sure they have access to a clean and available litter box. Ferrets are much harder to train than a cat but it can be done. A good trick to train them to use their box is to not let them out of their cage in the morning until they have gone to the toilet in their box, this way they can become more accustomed to using it (and not your brand new runners.) You can try placing some of their droppings in the box so that they start to make it their ‘special place’ to go toilet.
3) How to train a ferret to love their litter box – If you want to train your ferret to only use their litter box to go toilet then ensure that you keep it clean for them. Just like humans they hate going to a dirty toilet, and a nice soft area of carpet is a lot more tempting than a stinky litter box.