Hey all-
 
This is in response to the Palsha's post about not really liking their
Midwest cage and wondering what could be done to make it less stark.  I,
too, have a Midwest cage that I was fortunate enough to "inherit" along with
3 wonderful ferrets that needed a new home several months ago (joining the 2
I had already).  This previous owner had made some awesome changes to the
cage, and I added a few things of my own.
 
The main thing he did was add a whole new level to it.  I'll describe it as
best I can, but I never would have thought of it myself.  Basically he cut a
piece of particle board in the exact dimensions of the cage, then cut it
into 3 pieces so each piece can fit through the doors of the cage.  In
addition he cut a hole (about 4x4) in one of the boards for access from the
bottom floor.  About a third of the way up the cage (right above the bottom
cage door) he put metal rods, one across each corner to form a diamond
shape, then put the 3 boards in and rested them on the rods to form a floor.
He covered that with a piece of linoleum for easy cleaning.  He had used
some denim to make a kind of ladder from the bottom floor up through the
hole in the second floor, but what I did instead was to take a piece of
dryer hose and connect it from the 2nd floor access hole to the bottom floor
(with duct tape).  I had to reinforce the bottom of the dryer hose with duct
tape (on the outside so the ferrets have the traction of the coils on the
inside but their toenails don't poke through and rip the plastic), and I
used twine to connect the center of the length of dryer hose to cage bars
higher up so that the tube has center support and doesn't sag when a
ferret's inside it.  So anyway, the bottom "floor" (which is actually a big
square of linoleum that the cage rests on- I found the plastic base of the
cage to be way too difficult to clean) is for litter pans (in 3 corners) and
food and water (in the 4th), and the 2nd floor is where their towels and
sleep sack and cardboard box (with hole cut in it) are.  Above that are the
two small shelves that came with the cage.  I have a ramp leading to the
first one, and hung a length of ferrettrail tubing to connect the first
shelf to the second (well, previous owner did this).  There's a snuggly
hammock hanging between them, and to cover the bare plastic shelves I got a
carpet sample from a floor covering place (can also get linoleum scraps
there), cut it in half, and used sticky velcro to attach it to the shelves.
I try to keep some toys and fun things on the shelves, but the ferrets
usually rearrange things as they see fit.  The new floor is easily removable
should the cage need to be folded down for moving.  To clean the bottom
floor all I have to do is untape the bottom of the dryer hose and have hubby
(or me, if he's not around) lift the cage off of it.
 
Hope that wasn't too confusing.  If anyone wants I can snail-mail a picture
of it.  I think it's pretty cool, though, and the five ferrets living in it
seem to think so, as does anyone who comes over to visit (although they
usually also hint that I'm a bit too indulgent in my ferrets!).  There's
lots of room to sleep and snuggle, poop areas away from sleep areas, and fun
things to do!  Again, I give credit to Robyn, the previous owner, for making
most of these changes!
 
Love to all!    Jamie (and Fidget, Tiny, Gus, Cleo, and Einstein)
[Posted in FML issue 2190]