Cages for ferrets: features, selection and creation

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

A ferret cage should not only serve as a safe haven, but also be a convenient place for sleeping and solitude. 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 cell must meet certain parameters.

• Be spacious. Ferrets prefer to lead an active lifestyle and, unlike other types of rodents, do not like to sit in one place. Therefore, they should be provided with free space and additionally equip housing with various "simulators" and game zones. Most often, sand containers, bags with rags, nets, claws and special pipes are installed in the cells. In addition, it is desirable to manufacture or acquire two-level cells with shelves. With a lack of space in animals, muscle atrophy can develop.
• To have small gaps between the grilles. Ferrets are able to get out even through the thinnest gap, so 2-3 cm is considered the optimal distance between the gratings. The mesh is best chosen not from plastic, but from metal.
• Have the ability to quickly collect and parse. 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.
• To be convenient in operation and cleaning. It is best to give preference to designs with a pallet on wheels. They are much easier to move during the cleaning of the apartment, and the pallet will prevent the spread of filler throughout the room. Today, there are many options for pallets that are equipped with special clamps and are quickly removed.

In order to create comfortable living conditions for ferrets, their house needs to be made spacious. The cage should be big. Designs with dimensions less than 91x63x100 cm are not suitable for the maintenance of this type of rodent. Spacious multi-story cages are ideal, such multi-level models will allow you to equip your home with all the necessary accessories, and the ferret will be able to 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 animal’s daily life, it should be not only beautiful, original, but also convenient. Experts recommend installing square and rectangular cages for rodents. This design will fit perfectly into any room design and will allow you to rationally distribute the space of the cell in the areas for recreation and games.

In the wild, ferrets live in burrows, preferring steppe zones, so keeping them at home requires comfortable housing, equipped with tubular stairs for running and soft bedding for sleeping. Cells 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 material such as plywood, wood and plexiglass should be preferred.

The frame itself needs to be additionally sheathed with a metal mesh and insulated with foam rubber or a dense 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 the designs come in various models, the following criteria should be considered when choosing them:

• sustainability;
• the strength of the materials the cell is made of;
• sizes
• the presence of several floors;
• quality locks;
• elasticity of the mesh.

Recently, most ferret owners prefer to make their own houses with their pets. Home-made designs allow you to save the family budget and open up enormous opportunities for the implementation of design ideas. At home, cells are usually made from plywood. This material is characterized by affordable price and does not require special tools for assembly.

Before starting the creative process, it is necessary to create drawings, taking into account the fact that the ferret’s house should have about four separate rooms located on different floors. Between the tiers will also need to install tunnels. 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, at the design stage, it is necessary to take into account the fact that ferrets love to create their own small food warehouse, hiding the remains of feed in it.Therefore, in the design of the cage, it is important to provide a free corner and a removable roof with small openings. An important point is the ability to install a collapsible mechanism.

To assemble the walls and frame of the structure, It is recommended to use wooden bars with a cross section of up to 10 cm. They are fastened together by ordinary screws from 3 to 5 mm long. 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 laid on the floor (this will help keep the wood from getting wet).

When decorating the facade, it is worth paying special attention to the fact that the rear wall of the structure is fixed, as for the front, it should have a double-wing door with a latch, which will help to avoid the playful little girl’s escape. For the manufacture of the facade, plywood plates are similarly used, but they are mounted on special loops to the frame previously assembled from the beams. Doors are also made of plywood, windows are made in them, and everything is encircled on the outside with a strong metal mesh.

Doors must be hung on the hinges and adjusted so that their structure fits snugly on the frame from the outside. The pet will constantly play in his house and scatter small rubbish everywhere. To prevent debris from flying to the floor when opening the doors, a small curb should be provided in the lower part of the structure.

After the ferret house is made, it remains only to properly equip it. To do this, do the following.

1. First of all, you need to lay a message between the floors, for this ladders installed from plywood or a beam 2 cm thick are perfect. Placement of a drinking bowl, toilet and feeder should be planned on the first floor. A little higher you can have "living" rooms with a hammock, a berth 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. In the next room you can place drinking bowls and feeders. They are firmly fixed (screwed with screws). It is recommended to buy a feeding trough from ceramics, and a drinking bowl - pipette or ball.
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 frame with your own hands. At the same time, the arrangement of a berth should be given special attention - if the rodent does not like it, he will not go there.
4. After that, you can hang a hammock, at will it can be placed separately in each room, as the animal likes to swing. The hammock is tied directly to the roof structure, if it has windows with a net, or fixed to the frame on the brackets. In some cases, ferrets prefer not to sleep on “cribs”, but in hammocks.
5. The final stage will be the installation of tunnels, which will replace the usual minks to 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. In the manufacture of such structures at home, it is recommended to use small pieces of pipe with a diameter of not more than 110 mm. The sections of the tunnel are attached to the cage with tees or special adapters using brackets.

Depending on the imagination, you can create designs 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 should pass through the entire room and reach the hammock attached to the roof.

Independent manufacture of ferret cages has a number of advantages, which include cost savings and the ability to create any design for the appropriate style of the room. Consider the most original models.

• Multi-tiered construction made of wood and plexiglass. Such a house will serve as a comfortable place for the animal to live and fits perfectly into the interior of the room. The only thing that plexiglass does not allow oxygen to pass through, so you have to drill small holes around the perimeter. The roof in this case 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.

• A cage in the form of a castle. Such a house is recommended to craft from wooden blocks, plywood and vines. To give the design originality, it should provide several floors in it, each of which will be equipped with certain accessories. First, a frame is prepared from the bars, it is sheathed with plywood blocks and the assembly is completed with a vine decor, it is performed on the outside.

Overview of the ferret cage measuring 1.4 x 0.75 x 0.5 m, see below.