my babies

Your problem is you have too many litter bixes. You are teaching them that its ok to go to the bathroom anywhere they want. I have 4 ferrets living in a 6 level cage, with one litter box. The litter box is on the bottom level, their food is on the second level. Always keep their litter box AWAY from their food dish. If you own ferrets you have to think like a ferret. My ferrets know that if they need to go potty they have to go to the bottom floor. After a while it will just become habit. If you have litter boxes all over their cage they will get confussed and just poop anywhere. If they have only ONE litter box, they know thats where they need to go.

I will try this right away.....should I keep up the firm "no" to correct them also? Thanks for the help these are my first set up ferrets.

Teaching them the word "No" is always usefull, but remember to never ever ever ever.... EVER... hit a ferret. Not even a tap on the nose. They need to learn to trust you, and the moment you hit them, that ferret will not trust you for a very long time. Im not saying you would, just a word of advice I give to everyone about ferrets. One of the major mistakes new ferret owners make is by putting pine shavings in the ferret cage. Pine shavings are good for hamsters or rodents... but ferrets are NOT rodents. For bedding, always use things like blankets, clean kitchen towels, or other "soft" peices of fabric. Sometimes I throw one of my old shirts on the floor of their cage. They not only love curling up in them, but it also has your smell on them... so your ferret can get used to your scent even while they sleep! Useing soft bedding such as old shirts, or blankets serves 2 purposes. You see, ferrets are actually very clean animals. They would preffer not to go to the bathroom where they sleep. So by putting a variety of blankets all over the cage, they will get the idea that "Oh wait - this corner is for sleeping... not pooping!" See what your doing by putting 3 litter boxes in their cage is showing them that its ok to poop anywhere they want. If there is only ONE box, they will learn where it is, and they will learn to use it... and they will learn that is the only place they should potty. It may take a while, but sooner or later they will learn to use the litter box. Just be patient, be a loving parent, and enjoy your ferret. Ferrets are in my opinion, the best pets EVER!!! I'm hooked!