Ferret cages: features, selection and creation

Ferrets are considered the most amusing animals, so they can often be found as favorite pets in many houses and apartments. Since this exotic rodent is too inquisitive and mobile, it cannot be left in the room unattended. For the maintenance of animals, the owners should acquire ready-made cages or independently produce them from the materials at hand.

A cage for a ferret should not only serve as a safe haven, but also be a convenient place to sleep and privacy. Since this design will act as a permanent place to keep the animal, it should be chosen, taking into account many parameters, among which the 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 species 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 play areas. Most often, containers with sand, bags with rags, nets, scratching posts and special pipes are installed in the cells. In addition, it is desirable to produce or acquire two-level cells with shelves. With a lack of space in animals can develop muscle atrophy.
• Have small gaps between the grids. Ferrets are able to get out even through the thinnest slot, therefore 2-3 cm is considered the optimal distance between the grids. The net is best chosen not from plastic, but from metal.
• Have the ability to quickly collect and parse. You can, of course, use the stationary cell model, but if you have to move to another place of residence, you will have problems with transportation, therefore a transformer is needed for keeping animals.
• Be comfortable 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 allow to avoid spreading filler throughout the room. Today, there are many variants of pallets for sale, which are equipped with special clips and are quickly removed.

In order to create the ferrets comfortable living conditions, their house should be made spacious. The cage must be big. Constructions that are less than 91x63x100 cm in size are not suitable for keeping this type of rodent. The ideal option is a spacious multi-storey cages, such multi-level models will allow to equip housing with all the necessary accessories, and the ferret will be able to run and frolic freely in them.

A huge role in the manufacture of cages for the ferret plays and the choice of its shape. Since this design is one of the important attributes of an animal’s daily life, it should be not only beautiful, original, but also comfortable. Experts recommend installing square and rectangular cages for rodents. Such a design will perfectly fit into any room design and will allow you to rationally distribute cell 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 soft bedding for sleeping.Cells that are sold in finished form, usually made of metal and plastic. If the owners decided to make a house with their own hands, then should prefer material such as plywood, wood and plexiglass.

The frame itself needs to be additionally sheathed with a metal mesh and warmed with foam rubber or thick tarpaulin. There are also options for the manufacture of cells from wicker baskets and cardboard boxes.

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

• resilience;
• strength of the materials of which the cell is made;
• dimensions;
• the presence of several floors;
• quality locks;
• mesh elasticity.

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

Before you begin the creative process, you need to create drawings, given that in the ferret house there should be about four separate rooms located on different floors. Between the tiers will also need to install tunnels. That the housing turned out to be 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 remnants of food in it. Therefore, it is important to provide a free corner and a removable roof with small holes in the cage design. An important point is the possibility of installing a collapsible mechanism.

To assemble the walls and framework of the structure, It is recommended to use wooden bars with a cross section of up to 10 cm. They are attached to each other with conventional 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 a rodent, and be at least 5 mm. Then the plywood is fixed to the frame, upholstered with durable fabric on top, and linoleum is carpeted on the floor (this will help keep the wood from being soddened).

When you design the facade should pay special attention to the fact that the back wall of the structure is made non-removable, as for the front, it should have a double door with a bolt, which will help avoid escaping shalunishka. For the manufacture of the facade, plywood plates are similarly used, but they are fixed on special hinges to the frame previously assembled from bars. The doors are also made of plywood, windows are made in them, and everyone outside is studded with durable metal mesh.

Doors must be hinged and adjusted so that their design fits tightly to the frame from the outside. The pet will constantly play in his house and scatter petty litter everywhere. So that when opening the door, the garbage does not scatter to the floor, a small curb should be provided at the bottom of the structure.

Once the house for the ferret is made, it will remain only to properly equip it. To do this, perform the following work.

1. First of all, a message should be laid between the floors, for this purpose the ladders, made of plywood or 2 cm thick timber, are perfectly suited. Placement of the drinker, toilet and feeding trough must be planned on the first floor. Just above you can have “residential” rooms with a hammock, a berth and climbing tunnels.
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 desirable to acquire for these purposes corner models, they are easier to fix. Drinkers and feeders can be placed in the next room. They are firmly fixed (screwed with screws). The feeder is recommended to buy from ceramics, and the drinker - pipette or ball.
3. The next step will be the design of the recreation area. For her, the corner of the upper floor is perfect, you need to lay a soft cloth there or sew a house with a foam frame with your own hands. In this case, the arrangement of the bed 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, if desired, it can be placed separately in each room, as the animal loves to swing. Hammock is tied directly to the roof structure, if it has windows with a grid, or fixed to the frame on the bracket. In some cases, ferrets prefer to sleep not in “beds”, but in hammocks.
5. The final stage will be the installation of tunnels that will replace the usual mink ferrets. In their aisles, 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 in the home it is recommended to use small sections of pipes with a diameter of not more than 110 mm. The tunnel sections are attached to the cage with tees or special adapters with the help of brackets.

Depending on the fantasy, it is possible to create structures of any length and shape, and if they will not fit inside the house, they can be installed separately. At the same time, the mini-labyrinth should pass through the whole room and reach the hammock attached to the roof.

Independent production of cages for ferrets has a number of advantages, which include the saving of money and the possibility of creating any design for the appropriate style of the room. Consider the most original model.

• Tiered construction of wood and plexiglass. This house will serve as a comfortable place to stay for an animal and perfectly fit into the interior of the room. The only thing that Plexiglas does not allow oxygen, so it will 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 decorated with patterns.

• Cage in the form of a castle. Such a house is recommended tinkering from wooden bars, plywood and vines. To give originality to the structure, it is necessary to provide several floors in it, each of which will be equipped with certain accessories. Initially, a frame is made of uneven bars, it is sheathed with plywood blocks and is completed with a vine decorating the assembly, it is carried out from the outside.

A review of the ferret cage, 1.4 x 0.75 x 0.5 m, see below.