How to Litter Train your Small Animal

September 15, 2014

by Kelly

Everyone sees them when they go into pet stores. Those cute caddy corner litter boxes with pictures of ferrets, rabbits, and guinea pigs on them. But a lot of people buy them and they are never used by their pets. Litter Training your small animal isn’t quite as simple as litter training a cat. Small animals don’t come automatically knowing that is where they are supposed to use the bathroom.

Choosing a Litter

First thing you should do is choose what type of litter you will be using in the litter box. I don’t recommend kitty litter, pine or cedar shavings. Pellets like Yesterdays News, or Aspen are excellent at soaking up urine and keeping feces under control. If you decide to go really green keep in mind if you are training a guinea pig or a rabbit they might eat certain types of litters like wheat litters, or corn brands.

Setting up

Setting up is really simple, place the box in your pet’s cage in the most obvious spot. Place fresh feces and urine (if it’s soaked up in bedding, just place it in the box) into the litter pan so your pet will associate this with using the bathroom. Ferrets generally have a bathroom corner in their cage, so simply scoop out their feces and place it into the box. Place the plan where they normally use the bathroom after you have cleaned the area. It is best to leave your pet in the cage for a few hours to sniff around and get used to their new bathroom, and possibly even use it. After the first few hours if you let you’re pet out to play, make sure you set litter boxes around the house. Make sure you have more than one, and they are out in plain sight. Set up a reward treat system for your pet for when they use a pan successfully for the first few days.

Treats to Use

For rabbits you can use vegetables, hay, yogurt drops, or fresh clover picked from the yard. For guinea pigs you can use vegetables, hay, yogurt drops or fresh clover picked from the yard. For ferrets you can use yogies, ferret bites, hard boiled or scrambled eggs for rewards. All of these are quick and easily accessible for anyone to use as a reward system.

Being Patient

Litter training can take a few days to a few weeks depending on your pet. You need to positively reinforce your pet when they use the litter pan using treats as a reward. You don’t want to use negative reinforcement for accidents, if they have an accident simply pick them up and place them in the pan. Getting upset and yelling could make your pet associate the litter pan with being yelled at. You don’t want litter training to turn into a very long and stressful process. Remember this won’t happen over night and you will have to be patient, but patience does pay off. Also please keep the box as clean as possible; your animal might not use it if it’s too messy.

Reference - Small Animal Channel - Very Great Informative Community