>  The wood I am using is some old wood my parents had laying around.  It is
>about 2 inches X 2 inches.  Should I put the wire mesh on the inside of the
>frame or outside?
 
    Generally, wood is pretty lousy for ferret cages since it is impossible
to clean or disinfect.  I have built wood cages in the past and we put the
mesh on the inside of the wood frame, put linoleum down on the bottom of
the cage, then nailed a wood strip across the mesh and linoleum to keep
everything in place.  But really, I would recommend a metal cage...  they
really are *far* superior....  after a while, all the wooden ones began to
smell (hence the building of several cages...)
 
     To Pat Ball :
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA that was really funny!!!  I laughed out
loud.  thanks for brightening my day :)
 
    Regarding clumping cat litter, I always use it too.  My ferrets don't
dig, eat or otherwise abuse the litter in the box.  All conventional cat
litters don't absorb smell worth diddley in my house.  And cleaning is far
easier with the clumping.  I know it's a no-no, but frankly, I don't have
enough time in the day to hunt through normal litter trying to eliminate all
traces of pee....and Joopie won't use the litter if it has anything other
than clumping in it.  Of course, I don't use it with kits until they have
passed the digging stage, but the old ferrets are all accustomed to it.
 
    Anyhow, I built a second level in the big ferret cage, not really a
level, more like a shelf.  I carpeted it and made it look beautiful (it's a
metal shelf too, cost me $3.00 cut to fit at the hardware store...)
(cheap!) and the ferrets hate it.  *sigh* Well, i thought they did...until
I realized that they couldn't reach it (being far too short sighted to
think about climbing the side of the cage).  So I put in a little
scratching post that slants...right up to the shelf.  Now they're up there
all the time.  It's great!!!
 
    Someone mentioned linoleum tiles in cages...I did this too!  the whole
bottom is done and it's a great help becasue it's easier to clean and looks
nicer than metal.  Also, when I used to put newspaper down in the bottom it
confused them because they are paper trained outside of the cage and
weren't sure where to go...in the litter or on the paper???  I love
linoleum.  It's my new best friend.
-----
Joop (fat!!!)
BooBoo (chubby)
Ashley (teeny weeny)
the ancient Fang (thin as a rake)
Chloe and Shadow (all hair)
Sheena (frazzled)
[Posted in FML issue 1272]