>From:    Raymond Hicks <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Bath time, nails, illness, rabbits, duck soup, and strange people
>I've only had one problem with nails on my ferrets.  My oldest (Nosey)
>hopped in the cage on his own one day and somehow managed to get one of
>his hind feet nails caught in a cage wire corner.  Fortunately, he got out
>without harm before I could get to him.  My bigger concern is the the shelf
>I attached to the inside of the cage.... The problem is that it's wire and
>little legs can get caught in it.  In fact, Nosey got his hind leg caught
>in it last week on his way day for some food.
 
I might suggest that you put down carpet on this wire shelf.  All of my
cage floors are wire, covered with carpet or plastic runner.  The very
bottom floor is plastic since that is where the litter and food are and
the other surfaces carpeted.  I buy carpet remnants from my nearest carpet
store and cut them to fit my cage.  At first I thought that the ferrets
would try to pull the carpet up, but so far they just think it is wonderful
and leave it alone.  When the carpet is too nasty to clean anymore, I just
toss it and buy new.  I average spending about $20 a year and I think it is
well worth it.  Just be sure that you don't get the kind of carpet that has
little loops in the nap since the ferrets can get their nails caught in
them.
 
Hope this helps.
Britta
[Posted in FML issue 2608]