Why Didn't I Do This Sooner?

[Forum Administrator]

I HATE litter. I absolutely hate it. I don't care if its feline pine, woodstove pellets, or yesterday's news I just can't stand it.

I hate the way the feline pine or yesterday's news crumbles into pieces and then the ferrets track the pee-soaked disintigrated pellets throughout the cage. I hate how I find woodstove pellets or yesterdays news pellets all over the house where the floor meets the wall. I hate the way that urine builds up in the box and it stinks.

I am now free of litter! I switched to newspaper in all of my boxes and I have to say I couldnt be happier. No more litter debris, no more pellets all over my house, and best of all. NO MORE SMELL! I change the paper out 2x per day, I get ALL the urine and poop out of the box, not just some like when I scoop th box. The ferrets are happy because they don't have to stand on uncomfortable pellets to take a crap or to pee.

I get free newspapers and I place two folded sections of paper in the bottom of the box. Then I spread one sheet on top. I change the top sheet 2x per day and the two folded bottom sheets every other day.

I thought I'd share my amazing discovery with you. Not only do I no longer pay for litter, but my life is easier, my house is cleaner, and my ferret's feet don't hurt anymore I will never go back to litter for my ferrets for as long as I live

[velvetfuzzbutt]

LOL I have been using newspaper for ages. It was just too easy and free to pass up. I wonder if we are folding it the same? I take a large whole sheet of newspaper, fold it in half, and instead of folding it all the way in half again I make it so a few inches stick up against the back of the litter boxes. I've only ever made it too short (cobain is pretty good sized) and cobain over shot a couple times in years.

congrats on the discovery.

[mustelidmusk]

Or you could be like me and have Tonto pooping and peeing all over the ferret room (which has gross carpet that needed to be changed 10 yrs ago anyway.)

Tonto is so bad - he keeps hidden poop stashes.I can disourage him from using one pot, and he'll find another . He was over when e was netered. I wonder if this is why he's so naughty.

I stil call him "Tonticle" even though he no longer has his "nubs". He earned this name when he was conquering the universe with his urine! Now that is truly "hobnoxious" behavior!!!

-jennifer

[Forum Administrator]

Yep, Dresden, sounds like we do it the same way lol

Tonticle!

[Jaycee]

You know, I use newspaper all through my bedroom in those "special" places they like to go. I have newspaper all over the bathroom floor (as much for the ferrets as for my husband), and yet, they still manage to fine the ONE place that doesn't have coverage, and insist on crapping only in that one spot all day long. Soooo, my newspaper is nice and clean. Wish I could say the same for my floor!

Now, the newspaper in the cage works great. Brilliant! No more poo dried into those cracks (of the cage). I just pick up, throw out, and replace. It's that simple! (now we all sound like a cheesy Sunday morning infomercial).

[Forum Administrator]

Sept 21, 2008 16:51:07 GMT -5 Jaycee said:

(now we all sound like a cheesy Sunday morning infomercial).

That was f-ing hilarious!

[jackie]

I have used paper for a while now. Never much liked litter to begin with and well, paper is pretty much free. Plus it is a whole lot less of a hassle to clean in my opinion.

And of course the other reason(s) are that Bandit likes to dig in the litter and Smoke likes to sleep in it.

[Lynna]

for a while i was using newspaper under the litter but adam desided last week to rip up the dirty paper and sleep in the box so no more paper even though it made life easier. Oh and I found using puppy pads under the box for after poop butt sliding helps as far as cleaning goes.

[sherrylynne]

I use it everywhere BUT the box! Duh, why didn't I think of doing this ? Thanks for the idea!

[wmella85]

wow. thats all thats going through my head. why didnt i think of that?

[charmantpapillon]

i cant belive i didnt think of it either but i appreciate you giuli for pointing it out =x its made the cleaning of the cage so much easier =D and since i have a super pet i need all the help i can get XD this weekend i'm building a bigger cage =) i'll post pics when i'm done with it!

[Forum Administrator]

Sweet, I can't wait to see it! Be sure to post them in the section for pics of ferret cages. It seems like alot of members have homemade cages, thats really neat

[animalsgetrevenge]

Well I am glad it worked for someone! I tried this and it lasted about as long as it took for someone to pee... I must have put too few pieces of newspaper because it made a HUGE puddle in the litter box... It was bad...

How many layers to you put on? Could you pretty pretty please count them for me so I could have an idea?

I use wood stove pellets which are SO cheap, but I HATE THE CRUMBS from wet pellets!!! I have so SWEEP the FN every day and vacuum all the time too

[Forum Administrator]

What I do is this. I have a cat-sized litter box that I use for my boys (they are too big from being raised on raw to fit in the little ferret boxes *beams with pride*). I get these local newspapers, they are smaller then regular newspapers. There are two "chunks" to the paper (like two sections of several pages). I seperate one paper and I put two "chunks" in the box, side by side. The I take another paper, seperate it into two "chunks" again, and I take ONE of the chunks and open it up and lay it across both chunks that are side-by side. This way, there is a wad of paper below the top page to absorb the urine.

I will take pictures for you, since this is probably somewhat confusing to understand.

Once you get the paper in right, it works beautifully. To help me out, what type of litter boxes do you use? the square ones, the triangle ones, or the cat sized rectangle ones?

[animalsgetrevenge]

I use boxes that are close to square. I think they are considered "standard" for a ferret box.