Our young Mr.  Hobbs has recently fallen off the litter box wagon.  He was
quite cooperative about it all until recently.  When my son took Taz in for
his checkup he asked about forgetting his litter training.  The vet said
that ferrets will go anywhere except where they sleep or eat.  It seems that
the problem is that we are letting ours out of the confines of the cage too
often and he has forgotten the litter box.
 
Solution a  smaller pen area ( ours is six levels we must block some off).
Retraining should be automatic if there is just enough room to box, sleep,
and eat, for a while anyway;-)
 
About pens, my wife and I constructed our cage of Pine lumber using frame
and panel construction.  Like fancy kitchen cabinet doors are constructed.
With regular metal bug screen stapled across the openings (instead of
panels), and the edges of the wire screen and staples covered with wooden
strips.  By using this construction we have a solid and light pen 2x4x6'
tall.  The rear and top panels are 1/4" ply, the bottom a 3/4" particle
board tray 3" deep, with several generous coats of gloss finish.  Two frame
and panel doors close on a center mullion, and clip into spring retainers
top and bottom.  Hinges are 3 sets of 3/8" offset, non self closing cabinet
hinges.
 
Obviously this was quite a lot of work and required considerable tools,
however a cabinet shop could prefab parts and you do the rest if so
inclined.  Particle board in reasonably priced and when sealed / painted
with the new plastic finishes stands up well.  Masonite could be used in
place of plywood to further reduce the cost.
 
I also recently constructed a feeding station out of 1/4" plywood, which
holds the food and water dishes firmly in place.  When playing our boys have
a lot of fun trashing their dishes.  We found some 1/2 qt. plastic food
savers which had very tight domed lids which did not cover the wider rim.
We constructed a holder for them by building a box just a bit taller that
the bowls.  I cut two holes just big enough so that the dishes would slide
into them.  Flip the box over, the bottom becomes the top, hang the bowls
through the cut outs and secure the bowls in place along the rim with mirror
clamps screwed into the the top.  To provide some restriction for splashes
and little feet, cut a hole through the the center of the lid and put it
back on after sanding the cut edge.  Add a strap of plywood across the
bottom and attach it firmly to the shelf, or a larger piece of plywood.  It
must be big enough so that when they try to scratch or push it around they
are standing on the base.  Lots of coats of finish to protect it.
 
Sorry this got so long but I hope it gives those interested some ideas.
 
Steve, Terry Ann, Taz (who still bites some), Hobbs the lover, and Bear the
dog ever the victim of the sharks.
[Posted in FML issue 1446]