So I met this young guy, married with a kid on the way who happened to
have a ferret.  I found out that he was keeping the ferret in a big
aquarium at his mom's house so mentioned that the fumes from ferret pee
(ammonia) is dangerous if not properly aerated.  They put a fan in and
left the "cage" by the window... Long story short, I was concerned about
the health of the ferret (never actually meeting it) so I offered to make
them a cage out of materials I had at home.
 
The project was a real pain... I used a plastic coated wire cage, with
about a 1/2" square weave.  My guess is the wire was about 14 gauge, so
knew I would have to use double layers in some places, and add "I" beams
across the centers of the levels so it remained stiff.  Of course, all
flooring would be covered completely by rags so ferret tootsies would be
safe.
 
I built ramps, doubly secured doors, latches, etc... and held it all
together with wire clamps of the same gauge.  I used jeweler's pliers to
bend and wrap each clamp.  It took a number of days but I treated it as a
hobby and a first run experience.  I have a background in engineering and
physics and used "bridge building" techniques to ensure the thing would
be strong, safe, and secure.  It needed no glue or other potentially
dangerous materials.
 
It is 3 stories, 4 feet high, 14 inches deep and about 3.5 feet wide.
Each level has about 16 inches of headroom, and it sports one door each
on the upper levels and 2 doors on the lowest level, one for easy removal
and access to the litter box (a real plus!).
 
Finally I put it in my room with my 4 ferrets and they immediately gave
it a test run.  They ran / climbed up and down the levels and rubbed
their bodies all over the rags and sides of the thing, apparently marking
it as "theirs".  They tested the strength of the door and gave it the
ferret "aok".
 
So I took it over to this guy's mother's house and visited their ferret.
I was impressed with the health of this guy - very cute, big, well
watered and fed.  The only thing wrong was he was in this stupid
aquarium.
 
I set up the cage and the ferret gave the thing a test run.  I
transferred his poopy litter into the brand new litter box I included as
an add-on to the cage with an extra food dish and water bottle drip
catcher (I am giving them the cage, with accessories for 15 bucks).
 
I showed the guy that he would need to teach his ferret how to have him
climb up and down the ramps on the levels.  He pulled out the ferret's
treats on the top level, and the ferret LEAPED AND CLIMBED up to get his
treat in about a tenth of a second.  Amazing how tummies sometimes have
more brains than brains.
 
The end.
[Posted in FML issue 4312]