Litter Training

By Fran Pennock Shaw

Rabbits, Ferrets, Chinchillas, and even Hedgehogs can be trained to use a litter box for easier household cleanup and odor control. Litter training also allows these critters freedom from their cages and more opportunities to bond with their guardians.

Small animal-sized litter boxes fit inside a cage and are easy to scoop and rinse. With patience, you may even teach your pet to use a littler box outside the cage. Even after you litter train your pet, however expect to find some droppings when the pet is out and around.

Rabbits and ferrets are the usual candidates for litter training because they are clean, self-grooming, smart animals. Unlike cats, however, these critters will not go out of their way to find their litter boxes, so you have to make it easy for them.

According to the American Rabbit Breeders Association, litter box training works best with rabbits if started when the animals are 6 to 13 weeks old. It should take about three weeks to teach a house bunny to return to its cage to urinate.

The first step is to watch where your new rabbit eliminates in its cage. Once it has picked a potty spot, it will always use the same area. If you put the litter box over that place, the animal should naturally use the "toilet" whenever in the cage.

Next, carefully watch your pet when you take it out of its cage to play. If it starts to urinate, promptly take it to the litter box.

Later, if you catch your pet in the act of urinating in the house, squirt it with a water bottle, and return it to the litter box. If the animal already has done its business in the house while you weren't watching, spray a bitter lotion on the potty spot so the animal won't return to that area. Because you probably will find some fecal droppings, pick those up with a dustpan immediately to prevent the animal from defecating there again.

The process for litter training ferrets is similar, but owners often prefer to confine the ferret with a litter box in a small bathroom to start. You also can put down newspapers.

Another tip, from the Pet Information bureau, is to put a ferret's litter box in a corner, because these critters like to have walls around them when they eliminate.