>From:    "Ashley B. Bowen" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Ferret Door Blockers
>Ok, I am looking for a company who makes barriers to keep ferrets in or out
>of rooms. ...
 
I can't help you out with the company contacts, though I saw the review too.
The barrier looks neat and all, and I'm sure it's great, but you know, you
can make your own door barriers for next to nothing.
 
Just pop off to your local hardware store, like Home Depot.  They carry
thinnish sheets of a sort of flexible plastic material (dunno what it's
called) in different attractive colours, that you can easily cut with an
exacto blade.  Get a few thin strips of wood and a shower rod cover (the
plastic kind).
 
So you measure out a piece of the plastic material (this stuff is also great
for cage bottoms, BTW) to fit your doorway, in whatever height you find
convenient.  Glue two pieces together back to back (for strength).  Then
nail two thin strips of wood onto either side of your doorway (either side)
in such a way that two strips are just far enough apart to slide the barrier
in between.
 
Then cut the shower curtain cover to fit the barrier, and pop it on the top
of the barrier.  This is so your jumping ferrets can't get purchase and grab
the top of the barrier to haul themselves over.  Slide the plastic barrier
into the slots you nailed onto your door and voila!  Cheap barriers, totally
lightweight and easy to place and remove.  You can buy the materials in
colours to match your decor, and they take just a few minutes to make.  Best
of all, the whole thing cost us less than $15.00 (makes two barriers) and
that's even Canadian prices :-)  If your ferret digs at the carpet at the
bottom of the barrier, the tried and true plastic runner always works.
 
I really don't mean to detract from the advertised barriers (and if you need
to see through your barriers then what I just described obviously won't work
for you) but it's just so easy and cheap to make your own ... for those of
us who don't have the $$$ to spend on things like barriers, I thought I'd
share our little find. We've got 30 ferrets in the house and not a one of
them has defeated our barriers :-)
 
Happy Ferreting!
 
Sheena - [log in to unmask]  | "To Err is Ferret ... To Forgive|
VP - Greater Vancouver      | "... Well, That's Our Job"      |
     Ferret Association      (Wherret Web Pages Coming Soon!)
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[Posted in FML issue 2058]