Ferret Cages

[ferretfan]

For those who are interested in knowing what a good cage setup looks like and a bad cage looks like, I have posted a couple of photos.  The first is a Midwest cage with lots of blankets, strategically placed hammocks, rectangular cat litter boxes and is considered good for up to 6 or 8 ferrets.


The second photo is from a recent rescue.  It has a useless hamock, is totally filthy, has old, filthy wood chips on the bottom, a useless corner litter box and is totally inappropriate for a ferret.



If anyone has any other good/bad cage photos, please email them to the Ferret Rescue Webmaster (see the FRSO Contact Page for the actual email address).

Thanks!

Lynn

[Flakyfreakyferretlady]

ugg, I hope that wasn't the cage my poor Sable came in, was it??

[ferretfan]

No, it was from a rescue one of our members made in December.  She was such a cute and loving ferret - despite being filthy and having scrached her side raw - that the member decided to keep the ferret herself.  I haven't exactly figured out what I'm going to do with the cage as it's a mess and it SMELLS.

Lynn
 

[L-Dawg]

Anyone know where I might find a good sized cage for cheap?

 Drew has a fairly big rabbit cage, with a rectangle litter box, and a very nice hammock she can get inside.  But Bandits cage that came with him is too small.  Hopefully, if I can get those two to be civi,l I might get a nice one like that first pic above.

Lars

[ferretfan]

It depends on what you mean by "cheap".  The Ferret Rescue Society sells used cages when we can.  The price for a large used cage is between $100 and $200 depending on size and condition.  While we don't have many decent cages available right now, we will have two or three large cages available at the silent auction at our spring frolic on May 29.  If you can't wait that long, check our Local Products on our website as cages will be posted there when they become available.

Lynn

[L-Dawg]

Ok, thanks Lynn!

Lars

[ferretfan]

On the topic of cages, I have found it necessary from time to time to separate a ferret from a group for a few days (usually due to medical conditions).  When this happens, I'm usually left scrambling to find extra cage space.  

I've seen people who have split a Marshals cage in two, but have never been satisfied with how it was done as it essentially leaves each section with a single level.  This weekend I got out the wood and power tools and created my own version of a Marshals cage split.

The materials used were all purchased at Home Depot:
1)   2' x 4' white (one side) Hardboard (1/8" thick) $4

2)  1" x 2" x 6' Pine board $4

3)  12" x 12" peel n stick floor tiles - qty 6  $4

4)  Assorted cable ties $3

Total cost $15!

I cut the hardboard to fit the inside dimentions of the cage.  I cut the pine boards into 2' lengths.  At each end of the pine boards, I cut a slot big enough for the cage bar to fit into.  I also drilled a hole in each end of the pine boards.

Photo of the finished pine board:


I then applied the floor tiles to the white side of the hardboard.  You have to trim 4 of the tiles to fit (trick heat the tiles with a hair dryer or heat gun and then score them with a sharp knife).

The final step is to assemble it all, which is a little tricky. You have to take the cage part off of the base, put the hardboard in the base and resture the cage on top of it.  This is the only way of getting the new platform into the cage.   Then you have to move the hardboard around while installing the pine slats

Photo of the installed slats:


The slats are secured in place using cable ties (Aka Zip ties) - you instet the tie through the hole in the slate and then tie it around the cage bars.



Once all the slats are in place, you can move the hardboard on top of them and voila, you now have 2 cages for a very low cost!  The end result is a cage that looks like this:



As you can see, each section uses one ramp and platform from the origial cage to create an eating area.   A much better design than having everything on a single level.

Lynn

[L-Dawg]

Thats a great cage setup!  Was that one cage originally, or two put together?  Where did you get it?  And how many fuzzies live in it?

Lars

[ferretfan]

It's the exact same cage as the Midwest cage that is at the top of this thread.  I just split it into two separate "cages" as two of my girls refuse to get along with each other.  Each section currently houses two ferrets, although I've had 3 in one section of the second cage I have for fosters.  I wouldn't put more than that in a section - I would use a whole cage for 4 or more ferrets.

You can find Midwest cages at Petsmart.  We also resell used ones when we have spares (there will be at least 2 large cages available at the Spring Frolic Silent Auction this year).

Lynn
 

[L-Dawg]

Very good, thanks!

[Armymedic]

We have the same Midwest cage posted by Ferretfan, with only two hammock in it, however only one ferret lives in it so far.
So now I have a good idea where to put the bigger hammock I need to purchase as we want to get another playmate soon for our "Fred"
I've heard of tubing is an awesome toy for them, any recommendation as to what type? Dryer exaust tubes maybe? Plastic or metal? In the cage or outside the cage?
Thanks for the ideas.

[ferretfan]

I mostly use the plastic soft flexibile dryer tubes and duct tape the ends so the ferrets don't poke themselves when running in/out of them.  All my tubes are outside of the cage - I found that unless you use solid tubes, the ones in the cage wear out fairly fast if they're used on a regular basis.  Other options are PVC drain pipes and the cardboard tubes that come with large rolls of carpets.

Lynn
 

[Canucklehead]

We recently bought an absolutely fantastic cage for our four fuzzies.  It's a Ferret Nation cage we picked up at SuperPet.  You can see it at:  http://www.ferretstore.com/mw-142.html

It's extremely easy to clean and very sturdy.  We've got two hammocks, a hanging bag, a bed big enough for all four to sleep comfortably, two litter boxes plus their water and food and there's still plenty of room.  I've had a few different cages and this one is by far the best I've had.

The price is pretty good compared to similarly-sized cages.  I would highly recommend this one to anyone looking for a large cage.

[Sci-Ferret]

We were looking at that same one when we bought our fuzzies, but the woman who worked the small animal department at Super Pet said she found it to be a pain to clean, as the 2 pans has to be tilted on a diagonal to get them out the door and were awkward to work with. She suggested instead the Midwest one. I can't find a pic of the one we got, but it's got 3 levels, came with 1 hammock but that was soon fixed, it's on wheels for easy movement and the light-weight cage can be unlatched from the base and lifted straight up to clean. It also has 2 doors, upper and lower for accessing all areas of the cage without having to crawl in yourself. It has more than enough room for 2 fuzzies and their toys.

edit: found the cage http://www.ferretstore.com/mw-140.html

did however find we had to remove the upper ramp for now, and the lil babies were too small and we were afraid they would get hurt if they fell from the top platform.

[ferretfan]

The cage you linked to is the same midwest cage that is shown at the start of this thread.  You will notice we use lots of hammies to prevent the ferrets from falling too far.

As for the Ferret Nation cages, the sales person you talked to obviously had no clue what she was saying.  The nice thing about the Ferret Nation cages is the whole front opens up so you have easy access to everything.  If I had money, I would definately consider switching to the FN cages (I have 2 Midwest cages right now).  At least the Midwest cages have better doors than the Super Pet cages (which may have been the ones the sales person was thinking about).