# My girls won't catch on to litter training ! PLEASE HELP



## ilymorgannn (May 7, 2012)

I'm sorry this is going to be an eyesore to read, but I've tried like everything. I read every single potty training post on this forum and did further research. 
I'll start off by saying right now I have 2 girls and 1 foster girl who are 6 weeks old, 1 girl who's over a year old, and 1 girl who's around 5 months old.

First, I got a corner litter box for ferrets. I wanted to make sure it was big enough. I tried training with ECO bedding. But all they did was next in it and make a mess. So then I tried Swheat litter, but all they did was eat it. Then I tried carefresh, and all they did was eat it. Then I got a litter box with the grate on top, but they reached their hands down and ate the carefresh again. So now I'm using some weird clay based ball type litter that I found in the aisle near the litter boxes. It's dust free, and the rats arent eating it. Good.

So then, I put the litter box in the corner I saw them pooping in most. When I did that, they started pooping in the other corner. Right under the ramp. So now the ramp goes down into the litter box since that seems to be their favorite place. However they just like to sit in the litter box. I followed all the steps, by cleaning the cage and putting some of the poops in the box. Putting the rats directly into the litter box. Any time I see a poop, I move it right into the litter box. I can't even praise them for pooping in the litter box because I just haven't seen them do it.

So any suggestions ? Or are my ratty girls just hopeless to litter train ?


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## petratts (Feb 14, 2012)

you could try and get a bigger cage. 
my rats littler trained them self's. i built them a big cage and they just poop on the bottom level of the cage. they just did it themselves. i really didn't try anything to get them to poop there. so far they have not pooped outside of the cage when i let them run around my room all day, cuz they can always reenter the cage. they dont poop in like a little box they poop all over the bottom level. but no where else. and they have like shelves on that level so they have extra room to play and they don't poop on the shelves just the floor on the bottom level. but all over the floor.


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## ilymorgannn (May 7, 2012)

@petratts I have the critter nation, it's huge ! That's the point, they poop all over the bottom level. I just want them to go in the corner litter box !


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## Siringo (May 7, 2012)

I've read that rats don't like to poop where they eat, so you could try placing food bowls in the corners that you don't want them to poop. I don't know how well this works, but it might be worth a try. Good luck!


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## ilymorgannn (May 7, 2012)

Thank you Sringo. Oddly enough, my rats poop around their food bowl all the time  I guess I just have stubborn girls.


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## aang (Feb 7, 2012)

Lol, my hairless boy used to take his food into his litter box to eat it. I got a bigger cage, though, and he doesn't want to go all the way to the bottom to eat it there.
Just keep trying! I never thought Rupert would get it, but after roughly three-four weeks, he stopped pooping anywhere but the litter box. Try a bigger litter box? I used a small plastic storage container from walmart, and removed the lid. Just keep being persistent!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I potty trained my ratties to poop in their travel cage when they were out of their home. I keep the travel cage on my desk and as they are out of their cage much of the time they use that. 

As you have a large cage, you might try and train your ratties to use a similar container when they are out of the cage and you are there to assist them in understanding that they must always use the "porta potty" outside the cage. Then when they are back in their cage put the porta potty in with them and they might very well use that. Pardon the pun, but rats aim to please, it's just sometimes hard to explain what the target is.


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## shawnalaufer (Aug 21, 2011)

I give my male rats a hard time for marking everything but found they litter trained themselves! Such good boys 

My females on the other hand, use the litterbox as a place to eat a snack and use the litter to bury their food bowl...just about everything other than use it as a toliet! I did find teeny poops in it since putting my newest addition, Paisley, in there (she is about 6 weeks old now) so obviously SHE is getting the message, LOL!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

As a footnote: some female ratties actively seek out smelly things to mask their natural scent. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if some girl ratties actually think it's a good idea to sleep on their own byproducts.


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