How to make a "remote litter box"

[Forum Administrator]

What is a remote litter box?

A remote litter box is a tub that is attached (via tube/tunnel) to your ferret's cage. You place their litter box into the tub and the tub becomes a "bathroom" for them.

Why make a remote litter box?

A remote litter box can help some ferrets be more dilligent about their potty habits in-cage. It provides a more natural bathroom for your ferret. It is in essence an "latrine" room. It also makes cleaning the litter box ALOT easier, it keeps the litterbox (and the litter debris) off of your ferret's clean bedding/blankets and away from their food. It cuts down on smell, and it provides more space in your ferret's cage.

Does it cost alot to make a remote litterbox?

Not at all, it costs about $30 if you find all the right parts for cheap.

What does a remote litter box look like?

Here are some pics of my old superpet cage and its accompanying litter box (the ferrets in the cage are my original business of ferrets:











Do they really use that box?

Yes, my ferrets always used the remote litter box. They had horrible potty habits before and would pee/poop on the various levels of their superpet cage. After adding the remote litter box I did not have one problem with accidents.

Where can I get directions?

wrongcrowd.com/gallery/litterbox

But you can always modify the directions or just use the directions as a base concept and make your own design for the litter box (Like I did, and like Jaycee did below).

How do I attached a remote litterbox to my cage?

If you have a ferret nation, midwest, marshall, mansion, martins cage, etc you will need to use a dremmel to cut a hole in the bars of your cage. You can either use a toilet flange (like I did) or you can use a blast gate (like the author of the remote litter box directions did). The benefits of the blast gate are that if you decide you no longer want the remote litter box, you can slide the blast gate shut and keep your fuzzies from escaping the cage.

If you have a superpet cage, there are often smaller sized doors on the side of the cage. Simple open the door, attach the flange, and you are set. No cage cutting required.

[wienercat]

i have a superpet cage, but not one that has any outside tubes. Um, HOW do i cut the bars?

I love the idea of a remote litterbox!!!!!! They have a fave spot in their cage though, so how hard would it be to teach them to use a remote?

[Forum Administrator]

You can use a dremmel to cut the bars. I've had that cage and unfourtunately you cant attach it to any of the doors

As far as teaching them to use it, honestly I just put some dirty litter in the box (not filthy, just used litter) and I put my ferrets in the cage and pointed to the tunnel. They saw the tunnel, went in and sniffed around. Then they walked out. I took ALL hanging bedding out of their cage and ONLY put in blankets on the floor. I put in stuff that I didnt care if they had an accident on. Between the bedding on the floor (that they didnt want to soil) and the more natural feel of a "latrenie" area, my 4 ferrets started using it right away! They never had a SINGLE accident. So I eventually added the hanging bedding, but I also kept the blankets on the floors (just in case AND because imo its more comfy).

[Jaycee]

Ok, so I have a silly question. I love the idea of the remote litter box...especially with my large crew. Is it possible to remove the whole section of wall off the ferret nation, and replace it with plexiglass or chicken wire (or something similar...chicken wire is probably not safe), then cut the hole in the new wall? Ferret nations are so expensive, and if the remote box doesn't work you are left with a holey ferret nation. Just wondering.

[Forum Administrator]

I guess if you could find a way to make it work it would be worth a shot. Let me know if you are able to do this.

BTW- You can also make a "remote feeding cave"

[Jaycee]

Ha! Thought about that too....the ferret stuff now out numbers my things in the living room. Adding a ferret latrine box and kitchen will take up all that is left of my poor, poor living room. Unless I can stack the two boxes together.....I'll have to ponder some more.....

[desertram]

wow love that idea cause we have some that love to poop in front of the litter pan if it has too much poop in it i clean it twice a day but this would be nice we'll see if we can do that with the new cage.

[jennifer5799]

Jul 7, 2008 18:43:53 GMT -5 Forum Administrator said:

BTW- You can also make a "remote feeding cave"

I was about to suggest this in another thread - should've known you already had it covered

[Jaycee]

Ok, here is my suggestion to the remote litter box without cutting up any of the ferret nation walls. I will have to update this from time to time (we still aren't completed yet), but for anyone who wants to try this without destroying any of the ferret nation, this should help get you started.



We unscrewed one of the side panels from the ferret nation, and put it into storage. My husband used 1 by 3 pieces of board for the sides, and he cut a slit on the inside of the 1x3 boards to slide the chicken wire in. Our next step will be to cut through the wire and attach the drain tubes and tubs. I will post updated pictures once we get this done.

It just seemed to be a shame to destroy a part of the ferret nation when there is other options. Ferret nations aren't cheap, and are getting less cheap by the day!

Ok, new pictures. We finished this up last night (pretty much). We have a few modifications to make.





We are going to shorten the tubes because they are way too long, and have to prop everything up with containers and our old ferret cage. It's a work in progress...my only problem now is the ferrets are sleeping in the litter box bin. If it isn't one thing with them, its another!


Ok, this is it! We are finally done. We had to remove the bottom part of the ferret nation so it would sit directly on the floor. We shortened the lenght of the black tubing too, so they had a shorter length to run in. Plus, we had the problem of ferrets sleeping in the tubes which became more of an obstical and obstruction to any other ferret that wanted to eat or poo. So, here is the finished product....without cutting up any of the ferret nation!

[Jaycee]

So, I post my new question for anyone who has suggestions. How do I get my guys to stop sleeping in the litter den and start using it for what it was built for??? I already have the litter box in there...along with a few pieces of poo. They still insist on sleeping there.

[buzzonesbirdie]

Dont have an answer for you. This weekend hubby and i are cutting more holes into the ferret nation cage for the feeding den and remote litter box

[Forum Administrator]

Give them a "sleeping den" in the cage that is more appealing. Full of snuggly blankets and pitch black dark Get an opaque bin (or make one out of wood) and fill it up with the bestest bedding.

[Jaycee]

The crisis is over! We put bedding on all the levels of the ferret nation, and I took out the disposable chux that was in the poo den (they thought it was bedding, and didn't want to "go" in there). This morning I had absolutely no accidents in my cage! It is such a relief. Usually I have to spend my first 30 minutes after waking up in the morning just cleaning up the cage. This morning, I had free time! Yay!!! I wish I had done this sooner!!!

[Forum Administrator]

Isnt it great? Hooray for no potty accidents! Its funny but when you provide a ferret with a natural enviroment (ie burrow=cage. Bathroom chamber and food chamber = tubs) you find that they eat where they are supposed to. Poop where they are supposed to, and it makes for happier ferrets AND owners!

[kilasxxrattery]

What would some of you suggest for a ferret kingdom cage about a remote litter box? I have a ferret kingdom and would love to put this idea into plan but I don't really want to cut holes in it as we spent $150 on it.



Amazingly enough everything is held together with zip ties (all the clips broke), even the tubes the ferrets use to get from one level to another and the litter pans, it's all zip tied into place.