Hi, meet Winter. She was freed from Petco Prison a week ago and has been living with me rent free since. Winter is a great ferret, social and full of energy, but, she refuses to poop in litter boxes. She's found several corners to poop in, and I moved the boxes to these corners, BUT, she'll then poop in a different, new corner instead. If there are no corners without the litter box, she'll just poop against a wall (not in the corner). I've tried putting her food in corners where I don't want her to go, but she just poops in her food. Same with bedding and toys. Puppy pads are futile as she just tears them up. I'm using paper pellets, the same ones my other separated ferrets use without issue. What on earth am I supposed to do? I've tried boot camp, she has a cage with nothing but food, water, and the litter, and she'd rather shit in her food bowl or in her water than in the litter. I've had to remove all bedding because that became the bathroom. I move her poop to the litter, and still, she flat out refuses to use it.

My next approach is going to be to keep her in the cage all the time, but let her out when she uses the litter. I don't want to punish her for using the bathroom, but I've tried all the rewards (inc treats and playtime) for the poopies in the right areas, and relocation for the wrong areas. She just doesn't catch on. If she doesn't poop in one corner, but does in another, if I move the litter to that corner, she'll just go to the one she never goes in. She treats that litter box better than she does herself.

Is there anything I can do? I'd hate to resort to punishment via confinement but Im running out of options.