HI and Merry Christmas.

I have a three story Ferret Nation Cage. I am professional cage
buyer...I bought almost all of them at one time or another. Even had
Martin's Custom make a cage for me. (I loved it). It was the Penthouse.
My major problem with this cage was that the ferrets would always go in
the corners where I could not reach.*** I used it for 2 of my domestic
ferrets and it was fine. When I got my (Angora) Hercules who is 4 1/2
lbs of muscle and love, it was no longer functional. He is the worlds
greatest escape artist. He kept squeezing out the doors. I would put
clips on them, which was very inconvienent, (because of being custom
made I had six doors). I came home from and found the clips popped and
Hercules head caught between the cage and the door choking. If I had
been a few minutes late he would have died. Hercules was just too
strong to keep in it. He is also bullheaded and determined.

I got the ferret nation cage. The bars and doors were heavy enough and
with the latching of the doors, Hercie could not escape.

I used those nylon things, to keep the ramps and the shelves from
moving. Hercules was too large to stick his face in the small openings
on the shelves, but just in case, I covered them with carpeting, and
use plastic clamps to hold the carpet in place. I can change it when I
need it.

The real solution came from Karen at Ferret Affair. I had her make me
some Fuzzy Floors. I have the basement model in my Ferret Nation cage
and a regular one. I removed the lower shelf and put the basement model
in its place. They are very sturdy. (I had her make a basement, lined
for my Fiesty Ferret cage, in the motorhome for when we travel). The
ferrets love them. The only problem that I have is that things tend to
disappear down the hole and into the basement area. They must have a
half a dozen baby blankets in there and they hid their toys there too.
And whatever they can get in there, that they think is vaulable.

On the upper unit I put the regular Fuzzy Floor. That elimated the
shelf on the top section. I left the shelf in the middle section. I put
a double cubby from Snoopy Snugglers on that shelf . Sandy custom makes
all Hercules and Pandora's Hammys, cubbies, etc. They are very good
quality cage Accessories.

While I am it it. I also found a solution for those hard to reach
corners in the cage and/or their favorite corner in the house. I just
recieved my order of Slippy Pads. They were not what I expected. They
are better. Pande and Herc mostly use puddle pads. but they are hard to
fit in the corners. The slippy pads come with a firm corner piece that
the corner shaped pad is attached to. When it is dirty, just pick it
up and toss. Yes, they may cost a little more, but the conveinence is
worth it. Especially since we travel a lot in the summer. I hate to
carry litter boxes...now I do not hae to. No more litter to buy and
litter boxes to clean. If you want you can put them in the most used
corner of the litter box or put in the smaller triangle shaped ones.

I try to support the vendors on the FML as much as I can. Because they
really know ferrets and that is important.

[Posted in FML 6544]