[Moderator's note: I guess I only received a part of this post yesterday.
It was resubmitted today in its entirety.  BIG]
 
About cages: I made my own for my two ferrets for about $120.  Sound kind
of expensive?  Listen to the dimensions...36" x 29.5" x 75"... That is
right, 6 feet, three inches tall.  Four FULL levels...completely floored.
(No half-floors for fuzzys to fall through.  I also put doors on all four
levels and even put a door on the back of the first floor for ease of
litter box maintenance.  I could even add another door to each of the other
levels for ease of access, but haven't felt the need to do so yet.
 
 Material list (all bought from Builder's Square):
    wire cutters
    tape measure
    5/8" mesh green plastic-coated garden fencing
         (It comes in a roll that is 36" wide by 24 or 25 ft long)
          This will be the walls of the cage
    1/4" mesh wire cloth (2 or three rolls)
          (Comes in rolls that are 36" wide by 6 feet long)
          These will be the floors and ramps
    Plastic tie-wraps.  About 1000 small ones.  Came in packs of 100.
          I bought some...disn't have enough...bought some more... etc,
          until I was finished.
    Snap clips.  These are what some people use for key holders.  They
          have an end that has a thumb tab that you pull back to open
          a loop of metal.  It is spring loaded to stay shut.  I used
          brass ones..but aluminum is cheaper.
    A few wire coat hangers.
    Some square or round wooden dowel rods.  This is to reinforce the
          floors due to their long spans.  I used 1/2"square aluminum
          rod, but it was available from my workplace as scrap metal.
          My brother made one of these cages by my plans and he used
          1/2" square wooden dowel.
 
Roll out the green wire to its full length.  Divide it by four.  Measure
twice, cut once.  Trim off little lengths between sections.  On two of the
sections you will have to trim off between 6 and 8 inches (sides).  Why?
Because it will not fit out your front door otherwise.  Doors come in
standard sizes of 30 or 36 inches.  Measure yours first.  It is a real pain
to do this after you build it, but it can be done.  (both my brother and I
had to shrink ours after it was built).  Now connect the four sides with
tie wraps...don't be stingy with the tie wraps.  Make sure the two skinnier
sides are opposite each other.
 
Cut the "floors" out of the wire cloth (also called hardware cloth).  It is
already 36" long.  All you have to do is cut it the length of the sides(the
ones you trimmed 6-8 inches off of, as was necessary to fit out your front
door.)  Measure and Tie-wrap the floors at equal lengths to the cage walls,
one at a time.  Note: I added two first floors...one on the bottom and one
more just 4.5" above that (the height of my litter pan).  This allowed me
to recess my litter pan into the ground floor.  You really need a few
people to handle this, but it can be done with one person.
 
Now you will need doors in order to access the floors to cut holes for the
ramps to go in.  I put mine square in the center of each level and they are
12" by 9".  Just cut the hole out.  Now cut the holes for the ramps.  Mine
were 9" x 6.5" and back from the walls by 6.5" (a landing, if you will).  I
used an edge of the wire cloth to angle the ramp up to the next level...
6.5" from the back wall of the previous level and 6.5" from the front wall
of the current level.  (The wire cloth has a smooth edge on the sides) Cut
off all sharp tines.  Use tie wraps (onviously) in abundance.
 
For doors I cut a section of wire cloth 11" x 15".  Cut a length of wire
hanger 19 or 20" long (straight).  Bend about half an inch of the wire
cloth over the hanger and tie wrap it closed.  Now you tie wrap the whole
mess over the door hole right at the bottom lip.  Use three spring clips
(top, r.side, l.side) to keep the door shut.
 
Use the doweling to reinforce the floors where you feel it necessary.  Use
tie wraps to secure the dowels.  Cover the floors as you see fit (rugs/mats
come in 20x36" lengths...bonus)
 
Expect at least a full day to complete.  You will have left over wire...and
can always use it to modify the cage as you see fit.  You can put ramps and
doors where you want to.  You can recess litter pan in bottom floor...or
not.  Cover with vinyl flooring...or not.  The best thing about this is
that you built it yourself and put ramps and doors where you like them.  I
also added a small frame of angle aluminum around the base and put small
casters on it so it is on wheelsand off of the ground.
 
Enjoy,
Mike and the meandering mustelid duet, Krysta and Maple
[Posted in FML issue 2638]