Cages!

[Deleted]

Aloha 
so many thanks to those who helped me choose my diet, (FDR with some raw organs) and I couldn’t find a board strictly for cages so I hope I got it in the right place? 

Anyhow its time I talked cages, unlike two of my older ratties who enjoy their Savic Freddie 2 rat and ferret cage (seems way to small for ferrets but we won’t go there) 

The furry tornados need a lot of cage room to run around.

Ive been weighing my options with my partner which are: 

1: Use the rat cage my females are in
2: Buy one 
3: Make one 

My wife is more then happy with the first option, which I kinda can see why, the Savic Zeno 3 is a lovely sized cage, plenty of room for hammocks, shelves and the like, its wider then the ferret nation (from what I remember) and this particular cage we cut a hole in the side with tubing to meet with another Z3 
Sadly I can’t provide photos as i use my mobile device to access fourms. 
however it’s rather thin and the shelves are cornered and I can just picture them swinging their but out and falling off just to go down the ladder.. 

option 2: 
im more then happy to buy one, however the only option people go for is a ferret nation, which I’ve had more hassle with then other cages, mine came with a plastic floor, which my rats used to try and burrow under it, as well as kick everything out, idk if you’ve had this experience with your ferrets. But that’s mine. 

Last option is 3: 

im (insert swear word) at DIY however I like this idea, I could potentially create a faked natural environment, that polecats live in, which would be interesting. With shelving that look like rocks or branches etc. 

Im torn between fake natural or a massed Cage of pipes hammocks and all round ferret playground 
a bigger cage would be more ideal as there would be limited freeroam space, (gamers and their wires) but we do intend a sort out anyway. 

[LindaM]

Sorry, can't be much help with UK cages. The most commonly used and trusted ferret cage here is the Midwest Ferret Nation cages, generally a Double. I've been through a plethora of other cages before and it ended up money I basically peed down the toilet, couldn't even really resell the darned things. I haven't had any issues with my FN cages at all, I own 3 Doubles, 2 of them are linked up alongside each other in my ferrets' bedroom as they have a 300sqft room to roam in, the cage is left open with 2 doors taken off just for extra napping spots.

Hate to say it, but the Zeno 3 looks amazing for say a large colony of rats.. not so much for ferrets, especially multiple. It reminds me of the two Kaytee cages I had once, though the Zeno is definitely bigger than the smaller one of the Kaytees.. but they were kinda crap for a ferret overall. It is going to be a nightmare that has to be taken apart entirely every time you need to clean it.

When it comes to making a custom cage, especially with faux decorations, there are several things to keep in mind. NO foam, NO rubber, EVER, under any circumstances. These will lead to a life-threatening blockage for your wee one, and if they survive the surgery well, your wallet will be less inclined to survive the surgery cost, which with ferrets most often happens at night or times the regular vet is closed and you get to pay the ER vet fees. As for smaller, sticky bits of plastic, say the smaller parts of branches of a plastic branch.. some may be inclined to chew and ingest bits of this, and we go back to square one of rushing to a vet. So you need to be very careful what you end up using, and you need to know your ferrets. Some will just dig and destroy certain items, others may not care.

As for the wire issues.. Graphics Designer and gamer here (PC preferred, current rig cost several thousand dollars to build, due to be upgraded again with an Extreme Board and Chip soon of at least another $1500), and my husband is a programmer and also gamer, PC and Console. So suffice to say, we have always had wires everywhere. Again, some will chew, some will not. Ours do not.. unless there is tape/sellotape or velcro used around the cords, then they will try to free the cords by trying to munch those off, which can result in a munched wire. As for wires by themselves, they don't care one bit and haven't ever given us issues.. though Ares did often try to "rope-climb" some to the top of something, suffice to say that failed, LOL. And the one evening my husband and I were having a fight and I was crying had apparently distressed our alpha girlie, and she acted out by shredding her daddy's tablet charger.. Never again though, a true once-off in distress just like a little child might fearing their home isn't happy anymore (little Athena was much happier after special cuddles, a talk and some treats). Personalities and feelings can definitely come into play with ferrets, like the example above, and another example would be boredom, bored ferrets are prone to cause disaster where they go, often endangering themselves in the process (enough out of cage time is a MUST).

I'd also like to point out two very common mistakes made by new ferret owners. Do not give a water bottle, these are great for rodents who have teeth constantly growing, not for a carnivore like a ferret with once-off permanent teeth. These bottles chip and ruin their teeth, causing major dental damage that cannot be repaired. Ferrets are also lazy, so the patience required to drink enough water from the bottle is just not there.. they will not drink enough with it. Give a lock-croc bowl that attaches to the cage instead.

Corner potty-boxes... these are from h*ll and should remain there, unless you want to be covered in a pile of protest poops. The largest majority of ferrets despise these, even if they at first accepted them as kits.. they will come to hate them and you will regret it. Get a rectangular box in which their entire body fits, all four feet. Some also prefer a very low lip on the box, so they can easily backwards scoot into the box, and a high lip might result in the scooting up to it and pooping in front versus inside.

[Deleted]

Oct 25, 2017 14:57:05 GMT -5 LindaM said:

Sorry, can't be much help with UK cages. The most commonly used and trusted ferret cage here is the Midwest Ferret Nation cages, generally a Double. I've been through a plethora of other cages before and it ended up money I basically peed down the toilet, couldn't even really resell the darned things. I haven't had any issues with my FN cages at all, I own 3 Doubles, 2 of them are linked up alongside each other in my ferrets' bedroom as they have a 300sqft room to roam in, the cage is left open with 2 doors taken off just for extra napping spots.

Awh! Athena sounds like a right little devil aha, I wouldn’t be impressed if I found my iPad charger broken!

the FN in the U.K. are different to US I think, the one I owned had a lip at the front (probaly to keep pellets in) most of the other cages I’ve seen haven’t. 
And it certainly is a rat heaven! specially when there’s two connected, thankfully the Z3 is pretty easy clean, but it’s hard to hang hammocks and stuff up, also putting corner shelves is a pain in the A... without 4 hands. 
as for the diy cage, I do see your point about the digestion of unwanted items, and seeing as I don’t know what my ferrets are like distructive/non distructive, maybe a prebrought Cage is best till I’ve sussed them out. Can always make a cage at a later date to give them something new to do. 

AFC (away from cage) I’ll need to work on as admittly both me and my wifelike our stuff, which is great for ferrets seeing as they like to be nosey but not so great in terms of keeping them safe, it would be nice to open the cage and let them out of their own accord. Granted most of it is just cages (3 cages, we love our rats aha) but there are a few areas that needs sorting. 
The only decent play room is the entrance way, massive empty space plus stairs which already I can see making into a piped slope. 
And we fully intend to leash train to take them out for walks on a flexi lead and harness, specially seeing I don’t work due to mental health I’ll always be around to take them out of the cage/walkies.

i agree with corner potty boxes!   I have 4 kicking around simply due to the rats just pushing it out the way to potty in the same corner it was placed, usless things, something I did see pretty Intresting is someone made the bottom of a FN as a bathroom, massive room to poop, corners too!. I was already informed about the water bottle, the more I learn about ferrets the more it annoys me to see others using bottles.