MIDWEST CAGE WOES
Howdy!  I recently acquired a MidWest cage as a second home and travel cage
for my gang, and I faced many of the same problems that you described.
 
To prevent your ferret from falling from the third story to the bottom of
the cage, stratgegically hang hammocks to break his fall.  Personally, I
made two large, simple, square hammocks that fill the space between the
shelves and the other three walls of the cage.  Even if you don't sew, you
can make these simple hammocks by taking a baby blanket (or other material
of the right size) and putting an eyelet in each of the corners.  You can
buy a wonderfully simple eyelet tool at WalMart (look in the fabric
section).  Use shower curtain hooks (the metal ones) to hang the hammocks.
 
Digging in the food bowl can be prevented or reduced by purchasing a food
bowl that attaches to the side of the cage.  Hang the bowl at a height such
that the ferrets put their front two paws on the rim of the bowl to meet.
Obviously you don't want to hang it so high that they can't reach it
comfortably, but you want it high enough that the ferrets don't dig out the
food.
 
Litterbox digging is a tougher problem to solve.  I find that my guys dig
in the pan more often if it's clean (newly changed).  Usually they don't
dig in a dirty box.  I've also found that as ferrets get older, they "grow
out" of the litterbox digging phase, but your mileage may vary on that one.
I've also noticed that my guys dig in the box if they're bored.  The
obvious preventative for boredom is plenty of playtime out of the cage and
some interesting toys and such in the cage.  And, yes, setting up a digging
box outside of the cage will make your ferrets very happy.  I recently
purchased a child's swimming pool and filled it with one 40-lb. bag of
(chemical free) potting soil.  My guys love it!
 
>For those of you that have Midwest cages, you know that they snap into a
>plastic base (no removeable pan) and we are having a problem with the food
>and litter pellets getting in the sides (where the cage snaps in) and it
>is very difficult to keep clean.  Has anyone devised a way to keep junk
>from getting down there?
 
I experienced this frustrating problem too.  Yuck.  To diminish the
problem, remove the cage from the base, lay one or two old bath towels down
over the base, and replace the cage.  Obviously, you can't latch it in, but
I have yet to meet the ferret who can lift the cage off of the base.  The
towels make the channel around the base less deep and easier to clean
quickly with the skinny nozzle of a vacuum cleaner.  Then you'll just need
to remove the cage from the base and change the towels periodically.
 
Best wishes,
Gina Hart/Sage Ferrets
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visit the Sage Ferrets web site at
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/2040
[Posted in FML issue 2420]