Litter Training

No pictures will be taken during this process. I can't will myself to do it.

Rudyard has been trained to use newspaper. For most cases, if he needs to poop and there is newspaper in the corner, he will obediently go in the specific spot.

Jack knows how to use newspaper and theoretically knows how to use a litter pan. However, when he first came home and was isolated in his own cage, he proved to me that he doesn't know how to use either on his own terms.

Newspaper is getting sparse these days. Although the Flagpole is free and in abundance, I can't always find time to take a trip downtown and collect newspapers. So the proper solution, I thought, was to litter train the ferrets into using actual ferret-safe-litter.

I have the pans. Since Douceline has gone back to live with my mother permanently (she is very happy, by the way), I have an extra oversized litter pan as well as a corner litter pan that came with Sam's rat cage. Or maybe it was given to us? I don't remember.

ANYWAY, nobody poops in 'em. So now its time that some furrts poop in 'em.

I set it up last night. I'm starting off with newspaper IN the litter pans (clever, eh?). The large one I just lined. The corner one is tiny, so I put shredded newspaper in it.

When I checked up this morning, NO ONE pooped in the big litter pan (I realize this is normal because they do not like to poop all the way downstairs. The ceiling is too high), and EVERYONE pooped in the tiny corner litter pan. ON TOP of that, everyone pushed the newspaper out.

I'm trying to think positive here: Yay! They pooped in the pan. Yeah, it sucks they pooped directly on it and felt inclined to toss the "litter" out, but at least we are starting somewhere.