Ferret cages: features, selection and creation

Ferrets are considered the funniest animals, so they can often be found as favorite pets in many homes and apartments. Since this exotic rodent is too curious and mobile, it should not be left unattended in the room. To keep animals, owners should purchase ready-made cages or make them on their own from scrap materials.

A ferret cage should not only serve as a safe haven, but also be a comfortable place to sleep and retreat. Since this design will act as a permanent place for keeping the animal, it should be chosen taking into account many parameters, among which size, design, price and quality play a huge role. In addition, the cage must meet certain parameters.

• Be spacious. Ferrets tend to be active and, unlike other rodent species, do not like to sit in one place. Therefore, they should be provided with free space and additionally equipped with housing with various "simulators" and play areas. Most often, containers with sand, bags of rags, nets, scratching posts and special pipes are installed in the cages. In addition, it is desirable to make or purchase two-level cells with shelves. If there is not enough space in animals, muscle atrophy can develop.
• Have small gaps between gratings... Ferrets are able to get out even through the thinnest gap, therefore the optimal distance between the gratings is 2-3 cm. The mesh is best chosen not from plastic, but from metal.
• Have the ability to quickly collect and disassemble. You can, of course, use a stationary model of the cage, but if you have to move to another place of residence, there will be problems with transportation, so a transformer is needed to keep the animals.
• Be easy to operate and clean. It is best to give preference to structures with a pallet on wheels. They are much easier to move while cleaning the apartment, and the pallet will avoid scattering the filler throughout the room. Today, there are many options for pallets on sale, which are equipped with special clips and are quickly removed.

In order to create comfortable living conditions for ferrets, their house must be made spacious. The cage must be large. Structures with dimensions less than 91x63x100 cm are not suitable for keeping this type of rodent. The ideal option is spacious multi-storey cages, such multi-level models will allow you to equip your home with all the necessary accessories, and the ferret can freely run and frolic in them.

A huge role in the manufacture of a ferret cage is played by the choice of its shape. Since this design is one of the important attributes of the daily life of the animal, it should be not only beautiful, original, but also comfortable. Experts recommend installing square and rectangular cages for rodents. This design will ideally fit into any room design and will allow you to rationally distribute the cage space into areas for recreation and games.

In the wild, ferrets live in burrows, preferring the steppe zones, so keeping them at home requires comfortable housing equipped with tubular ladders for running and a soft bed for sleeping. Cages that are sold ready-made are usually made of metal and plastic. If the owners decided to make a house with their own hands, then preference should be given to materials such as plywood, wood and plexiglass.

The frame itself must be additionally sheathed with a metal mesh and insulated with foam rubber or a thick tarpaulin. There are also options for making cages from wicker baskets and cardboard boxes.

Before you start a ferret, you need to carefully consider the location of his house and decide on the appropriate type of cage. Since designs come in different models, the following criteria should be considered when choosing them:

• stability;
• the strength of the materials from which the cage is made;
• sizes;
• the presence of several floors;
• quality of locks;
• elasticity of the mesh.

Recently, most ferret owners prefer to make houses for their pets with their own hands. Homemade designs save the family budget and open up huge opportunities for the implementation of design ideas. At home, cages are usually made of plywood. This material is characterized by an affordable price and does not require special tools for assembly.

Before starting the creative process, you need to create blueprints, considering that the ferret's house should have about four separate rooms located on different floors. Tunnels will also need to be installed between the tiers. To make the housing spacious, each room should have a height of up to 40 cm, and an area of ​​at least 50x80 cm.

In addition, during the design phase, you need to take into account the fact that ferrets like to create their own small food warehouse, hiding the remains of food in it.Therefore, it is important to provide a free corner and a removable roof with small holes in the design of the cage. An important point is the possibility of installing a collapsible mechanism.

To assemble the walls and frame of the structure, it is recommended to use wooden beams with a cross section of up to 10 cm. They are attached to each other with ordinary self-tapping screws with a length of 3 to 5 mm. After the parts are fixed, you need to carefully sand the surface - this will protect the animal from injury. Partitions can also be made of plywood, but its thickness must withstand the weight of the rodent, and be at least 5 mm. Then the plywood is fixed to the frame, upholstered with a strong cloth on top, and linoleum is covered on the floor (this will help keep the wood from getting wet).

When decorating the facade, you should pay special attention to the fact that the rear wall of the structure is made non-removable, as for the front one, it must have a double door with a latch, which will help to avoid the escape of the playful. For the manufacture of the facade, plywood plates are used in the same way, but they are attached to special hinges to a frame pre-assembled from beams. Doors are also made of plywood, windows are made in them, and everything is upholstered on the outside with a strong metal mesh.

Doors must be hinged and adjusted so that their structure fits snugly to the frame from the outside. The pet will constantly play in its house and scatter small litter everywhere. To prevent debris from flying to the floor when opening the doors, a small curb should be provided at the bottom of the structure.

After the ferret house is made, all that remains is to equip it correctly. To do this, you should perform the following work.

1. First of all, you need to lay a message between the floors, for this, ladders installed from plywood or 2 cm thick timber are perfect. The placement of a drinker, toilet and feeder should be planned on the ground floor. A little higher you can have "living" rooms with a hammock, sleeping place and tunnels for climbing.
2. On the first tier in one of the rooms you need to put a tray where the ferret will go to the toilet. It is advisable to purchase corner models for these purposes, they are easier to fix. Drinking bowls and feeders can be placed in the next room. They are firmly fixed (screwed with self-tapping screws). It is recommended to buy a feeder made of ceramics, and a pipette or ball drinker.
3. The next step will be the design of the recreation area. The corner of the upper floor is perfect for her, you need to lay a soft cloth there or sew a house with a foam rubber frame with your own hands. At the same time, special attention should be paid to the arrangement of the sleeping place - if the rodent does not like it, he will not go there.
4. After that, you can hang the hammock, if you wish, you can place it separately in each room, since the animal loves to swing. The hammock is tied directly to the roof structure, if it has windows with a mesh, or fixed to the frame with staples. In some cases, ferrets prefer to sleep in hammocks rather than in cribs.
5. The final stage will be the installation of tunnels, which will replace the usual minks for ferrets. In their passages, the rodent will be able to climb, and the more complex the design of the tunnel, the more interesting it will be for the pet. When making such structures at home, it is recommended to use small pipe sections with a diameter of no more than 110 mm. Tunnel sections are attached to the cage with tees or special adapters using brackets.

Depending on your imagination, you can create structures of any length and shape, and if they will not fit inside the house, they can be installed separately. In this case, the mini-labyrinth must go through the entire room and reach the hammock attached to the roof.

Self-made ferret cages have a number of advantages, which include cost savings and the ability to create any design for the appropriate style of the room. Let's consider the most original models.

• Multi-tiered wood and plexiglass construction. Such a house will serve as a comfortable place for an animal to live and will perfectly fit into the interior of the room. The only thing is that plexiglass does not allow oxygen to pass through, so you will have to drill small holes in it around the perimeter. In this case, the roof should be installed inclined, gable or flat. Externally, the structure can be decorated with dry branches from trees and shrubs, and the glass can be painted with patterns.

• Cage in the form of a lock. It is recommended to make such a house from wooden blocks, plywood and vines. To give the design originality, several floors should be provided in it, each of which will be equipped with certain accessories. First, a frame is prepared from beams, it is sheathed with plywood blocks and the assembly is completed with a vine decor, it is performed outside.

See below for an overview of the 1.4 x 0.75 x 0.5 m ferret cage.