Please Help! I'm making a cage for my GCSE tech project!

[Deleted]

I am designing a ferret cage for my GCSE Resistant Materials project and I need to research what other people look for when buying one. I am aiming to design and make a cage that looks nice as it would go inside a house.

1. Which material do you think would be best to make the cage from?
A) Teak
B) Plywood
C) Steel
D) Aluminium

2. Which material should the ‘windows’ be made from?
A) Wire mesh
B) Clear plastic
C) Safety Glass

3. Which material would you use for the floor of the cage?
A) Laminate
B) Plywood
C) Teak
D) Aluminium
E) Steel
F) Plastic

4. How many tiers would you have in the cage for the ferrets to play on?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

5. Would you have it:
A) On the ground
B) With legs
C) With wheels


6. What shape of cage would you have?
A) Square
B) Pentagon
C) Hexagon
D) Shaped to fit in a corner
E) Custom (e.g. house shaped)
F) Other
If Other What?



7. What accessories would you have with it?
A) None
B) Inside pipes
C) Outside pipes
D) Maze
E) Other
If Other What?





8. What would be the best way to make sure that the cage can be cleaned easily?





9. How much would you be prepared to spend on a ferret cage?
A) -£25
B) £26-50
C) £51-100
D) £101-150
E) +£151


10. What kind of facilities should be provided for the ferrets to sleep in?
A) A Hammock or hanging bed
B) A Blanket
C) A smallish room without a ‘window’
D) A Ferret Sleeping bag
E) Other
If Other, What?


Thanks soooo much for helping!!!!

[Deleted]

I built my first cage but it was unfortunately too small. That being said we used plywood for the frame and a really heavy chicken wire type stuff, it was 1/4 inch squares. For the floor we use linoleum over wood.

What I learned from my mistakes:

1- make it bigger than you think you need it

2- instead if wooden floors I should have made it with the heavy wire but have plastic trays, for much easier cleanup

3- make the front full size doors

4- if you use the same wire I used, wear heavy gloves when cutting AND be shur to put a strip of wood covering the edges to finish it off, it is sharp


There are certain metals that you should avoid because the urine mixing with it releases toxins, I'll look up to find what it is and edit this in a few.

[bitbyter]

I would suggest buying the Ferret Nation plastic trays and shelves and then building your cage around those. That way you get standardized dimensions and the trays are easy to clean. Wire mesh would work fine for windows / doors as long as it was thick enough to resist strong ferrets and not thin enough not to hurt their paw pads.

[Deleted]

I've never attempted to build a cage, but we have built a few houses. The one thing that I know for sure, is once built, you always come up with a few better ideas. So allow for changes that you will want to make later. Cleaning will be super important, it should be easy so that you don't dread doing it. They need several sleeping areas, they will want to sleep in different places sometimes. I would go wider, rather than higher (just what I've observed, because they tend to be clumsy and fall. And take a look at some of the attached litter boxes, we have alot of pictures of how to do that, posted on the forum. Good luck and let us know what the finished result is. As far as toys go, mine aren't in the cage very often, so play time is always outside the cage.

[katt]

1. Which material do you think would be best to make the cage from?
A) Teak
B) Plywood - you need to be careful with this as a lot of woods release oils that are toxic to ferrets and other small animals. Wood is also hard to clean and will potentially begin to rot/decay if it gets wet (urine, water bowl spills, cleaning etc))
C) Steel
D) Aluminium

2. Which material should the ‘windows’ be made from?
A) Wire mesh Thick enough to not cut their paws or mouth if they dig or bite at it, and close together enough to prevent small heads from getting through
B) Clear plastic Plastic and glass are not good materials, ferrets should preferably have a lot of airflow in their cage.
C) Safety Glass

3. Which material would you use for the floor of the cage?
A) Laminate
B) Plywood
C) Teak
D) Aluminium
E) Steel
F) Plastic Easiest to clean! Also see above about wood and ferret potty accidents. Laminate is okay but urine and water can seep through the seams to the wood underneath.

4. How many tiers would you have in the cage for the ferrets to play on?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4 This really depends on the height and width of each level. Wide is better than tall. I think my FN142 is perfect. I would never add a third level in height bc I wouldn't be able to reach for cleaning, but I WOULD love to add another cage side by side, esp if I ha more than 2 ferrets. Being able to separate the levels is one of my favorite things about the FN cage so that is something to consider. Also, levels should preferably be full floors with just a hole/ramp/tunnel to the next level. Ferrets are very clumsy and prone to falling so a lot of open ehight is really not the best.

5. Would you have it:
A) On the ground
B) With legs
C) With wheels This is a MUST for cleaning around and under the cage.


6. What shape of cage would you have?
A) Square Rectangle. Again, the Ferret Nation cage has perfect dimensions.
B) Pentagon
C) Hexagon
D) Shaped to fit in a corner
E) Custom (e.g. house shaped)
F) Other
If Other What?



7. What accessories would you have with it?
A) None
B) Inside pipes
C) Outside pipes
D) Maze
E) Other
If Other What? All of the above sound super fun AS LONG AS they are easy to clean! Ease of cleaning access is a huge must for me, and for a lot of people.





8. What would be the best way to make sure that the cage can be cleaned easily?

Sturdy, plastic surfaces as much as possible. Make sure that everything is rust-proof, rot-proof, etc but you also want to make sure any sealants or chemicals used are safe. Full access doors are a huge deal for making a cage easy to clean.




9. How much would you be prepared to spend on a ferret cage?
A) -£25
B) £26-50
C) £51-100
D) £101-150
E) +£151 I'm not sure what the Pound to Dollar conversion rate is exactly, but I spent $200 on my FN. If I had the money, and space I would be willing to spend another $200 to get a second one. I think that comes out to close to 100-200 pounds?


10. What kind of facilities should be provided for the ferrets to sleep in?
A) A Hammock or hanging bed
B) A Blanket
C) A smallish room without a ‘window’
D) A Ferret Sleeping bag
E) Other
If Other, What? All of the above are great! It is good to be able to change things up, they like variety. A sleeping den (smallish room without a "window" aka a box - not too big because they like Cozy places) is always a great idea.


Thanks soooo much for helping!!!![/quote]

Good luck and please share your finished product with us!

[Sherry]

1. Which material do you think would be best to make the cage from?
A) Teak
B) Plywood
C) Steel
D) Aluminium

2. Which material should the ‘windows’ be made from?
A) Wire mesh Heavy duty hardware cloth can be used in many cases. Otherwise small enough not to get heads stuck, but large enough not to catch a claw or toe.
B) Clear plastic
C) Safety Glass

3. Which material would you use for the floor of the cage?
A) Laminate
B) Plywood
C) Teak
D) Aluminium
E) Steel
F) Plastic easiest by far to clean

4. How many tiers would you have in the cage for the ferrets to play on?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
depends on the number of ferrets and the height of individual levels.

5. Would you have it:
A) On the ground
B) With legs
C) With wheels so I can clean under/behind


6. What shape of cage would you have?
A) Square FN is perfect
B) Pentagon
C) Hexagon
D) Shaped to fit in a corner Often thought this could be cool if it were large enough to be walk in
E) Custom (e.g. house shaped)
F) Other
If Other What?



7. What accessories would you have with it?
A) None
B) Inside pipes
C) Outside pipes
D) Maze
E) Other
If Other What?- All of the above





8. What would be the best way to make sure that the cage can be cleaned easily?
Doors that open full across like the FN





9. How much would you be prepared to spend on a ferret cage?
A) -£25
B) £26-50
C) £51-100
D) £101-150
E) +£151 my 2 FN's cost the equivalent of 182 pounds each.


10. What kind of facilities should be provided for the ferrets to sleep in?
A) A Hammock or hanging bed
B) A Blanket
C) A smallish room without a ‘window’
D) A Ferret Sleeping bag
E) Other
If Other, What? All of the above