Post by RedSky on Jul 15, 2014 14:44:20 GMT -5
As I'm sure most of you know I don't yet have any ferrets and wont have any for a hopefully a quite a few years yet although I could cave in at any moment (luckily my OH is keeping me restrained!).
Anyway, we are redoing the garden, fencing, replacing the shed, hopefully laying lawn ect. And we wanted to plan the ferret enclosure (anyone else hate the word cage?).
We have been advised by a rescue we would like to use (if they are still around when we get ours) that they would be better outside with natural light, and should be fine in our climate. But we would also like them to have some space indoors too.
So we have a couple of options. All but one involves a shed and aviary.
First one is at the back of the house (although is the main entrance, parking ect). We could put the shed on the lowest level, with the run on a slightly higher level (but wouldn't be able to walk in) and have access into the house through the run, via a catflap into the wall, to a cage upto 5ft x 1ft. This would be in the dining room, which we could ferret proof (ish) and have as a play room. The only problem being that the only divider to the kitchen would be a baby gate and the cupboards (and cage) and so may be easy to escape if they figure out how. Also dining table and chairs ect would need to stay. And the only access to the rest of the house is through the kitchen, which also has the door we use to come and go.
I like this option having it at the main entrance to the house, but the cage is going to take up a lot of space in the dining room which is why it would have to be quite narrow.
Second option would be a shed and walk in run around the side of the house, with access internally in the shed to a tunnel which would run from the shed across the kitchen doorway, across the living room wall and into a cage which would fit into an alcove at the other side of the dining room. This space is wider than a FN, and we could try build/buy something to fit.
This was my original plan, but neither my OH or I like the look of the tunnels everywhere, plus knowing our luck one would drag food in or use it as a toilet and I would expect it would be easier to escape and harder to grab a ferret if needed in an emergency. Plus again they are in dining room.
Third option would be the shed and walk in run in the same place as the second option, but access coming in via a cat flat, in either the shed or run, to the space under the stairs and them having that as their cage. It isn't a massive space, but our 30kg lab sized dog currently uses it as a bedroom (or is supposed to, not sure the last time he went in!) with a sofa styled bed (cushions at top and bottom) and can spread out. It would be fairly easy to make a front for it, but would they chew through the walls??
This is my preferred idea at the moment. If they escaped into the house from here then if all the doors were shut they could only access the hallway, stairs and landing. No rooms, wires, pipes ect. This also means that they wouldn't have to access the kitchen to get to other rooms. My only concern is this would be the smallest space for the indoor cage and making the walls safe.
The final option is to give up on the idea of a outdoor enclosure and just let them out to play in the garden supervised, and have them live indoors the rest of the time. I would rather they had access to come in and out as they pleased.
I would prefer for during out of the cage time that they can get back to their cage when ever they want, and for me to just open the door and them bring their selves out rather than me getting them out. This is just something I always prefer to do if possible but understand that it isn't always.
So if you managed to get to the end of my crazy ideas, thank you so much. And last thing (for now), how much space do they need? I am used to being told millions of times that a gerbil needs 20 gallons, a hamster needs 70cm x 40 cm, a rabbit needs a 6ft hutch with double run space ect. But haven't come across anything specific for ferrets.
Anyway, we are redoing the garden, fencing, replacing the shed, hopefully laying lawn ect. And we wanted to plan the ferret enclosure (anyone else hate the word cage?).
We have been advised by a rescue we would like to use (if they are still around when we get ours) that they would be better outside with natural light, and should be fine in our climate. But we would also like them to have some space indoors too.
So we have a couple of options. All but one involves a shed and aviary.
First one is at the back of the house (although is the main entrance, parking ect). We could put the shed on the lowest level, with the run on a slightly higher level (but wouldn't be able to walk in) and have access into the house through the run, via a catflap into the wall, to a cage upto 5ft x 1ft. This would be in the dining room, which we could ferret proof (ish) and have as a play room. The only problem being that the only divider to the kitchen would be a baby gate and the cupboards (and cage) and so may be easy to escape if they figure out how. Also dining table and chairs ect would need to stay. And the only access to the rest of the house is through the kitchen, which also has the door we use to come and go.
I like this option having it at the main entrance to the house, but the cage is going to take up a lot of space in the dining room which is why it would have to be quite narrow.
Second option would be a shed and walk in run around the side of the house, with access internally in the shed to a tunnel which would run from the shed across the kitchen doorway, across the living room wall and into a cage which would fit into an alcove at the other side of the dining room. This space is wider than a FN, and we could try build/buy something to fit.
This was my original plan, but neither my OH or I like the look of the tunnels everywhere, plus knowing our luck one would drag food in or use it as a toilet and I would expect it would be easier to escape and harder to grab a ferret if needed in an emergency. Plus again they are in dining room.
Third option would be the shed and walk in run in the same place as the second option, but access coming in via a cat flat, in either the shed or run, to the space under the stairs and them having that as their cage. It isn't a massive space, but our 30kg lab sized dog currently uses it as a bedroom (or is supposed to, not sure the last time he went in!) with a sofa styled bed (cushions at top and bottom) and can spread out. It would be fairly easy to make a front for it, but would they chew through the walls??
This is my preferred idea at the moment. If they escaped into the house from here then if all the doors were shut they could only access the hallway, stairs and landing. No rooms, wires, pipes ect. This also means that they wouldn't have to access the kitchen to get to other rooms. My only concern is this would be the smallest space for the indoor cage and making the walls safe.
The final option is to give up on the idea of a outdoor enclosure and just let them out to play in the garden supervised, and have them live indoors the rest of the time. I would rather they had access to come in and out as they pleased.
I would prefer for during out of the cage time that they can get back to their cage when ever they want, and for me to just open the door and them bring their selves out rather than me getting them out. This is just something I always prefer to do if possible but understand that it isn't always.
So if you managed to get to the end of my crazy ideas, thank you so much. And last thing (for now), how much space do they need? I am used to being told millions of times that a gerbil needs 20 gallons, a hamster needs 70cm x 40 cm, a rabbit needs a 6ft hutch with double run space ect. But haven't come across anything specific for ferrets.
