>we are going from hardwood floors (easy cleanup!) to carpeting in the
>fert rooms.  i am concerned...do ferts tend to rip up carpet?
 
My ferrets always tended to dig at carpets, though only in corners and
at doorways (including the closet).  The litter pans should protect the
corners (another trick is to throw down some towels or fleece in a corner
to make it a bed).  For doorways you can lay down plastic carpet runner,
or just a flat piece of cardboard.
 
I also have little washable throw rugs under every litter pan to protect
the carpet from 'scootching' (since carpet = ferret toilet paper).  I
suppose any thick fabric cut into a rectangle that extended several inches
around the pans would work.
 
>we will also have an opening to the fert play room that is 10 feet wide!!
>we have used weasel watcher-ish gates for years with great success, but
>have no clue how to barrier this opening....any suggestions???
 
I'm not sure if your home layout lends itself to the following: I had a
similar opening between kitchen and livingroom in my condo.  I set up two
bookcases, one attached to each wall with screws.  This left enough space
between for me to walk through, but was narrow enough to hang a swinging
door between made of just a piece of oak plywood (sanded, stained and
varnished).  The door swung on cabinet hinges and was held shut by a
magnetic latch.  It all worked pretty well, though when I moved I had to
fix the screw holes in the walls.
 
Hope this helps.
 
--
John Rosloot, Caregiver to Sammy
With loving memories of my dear departed Buddy,
and my precious little Cassie-angel
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/ferrets
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[Posted in FML issue 3300]