Hello All:

I though I would share two tips which might be useful.

I have been trying really hard to have my three ferrets out of their
cage more often, preferably all day long. They have their own small
room, so ferret proofing is not an issue.

I always keep the door open, so a pet/child barrier is needed. After a
lot of searching, I found one called "Safety 1st." It can«t be climbed,
so it is just perfect. Also, although I don«t frequently do this,
because it is adjustable, it can be moved to block other areas when
I take them out of their room. I bought mine off of ebay for $20;
although it ended up costing me another $80 in shipping and customs
to get it to Costa Rica.

Ferret beds. Now this one has been a real annoyance to me. I wanted a
nice ferret bed for two reasons. First of all of course I wanted them
to have a good place to sleep. Second of all, I wanted to strategically
block a corner which they sometimes use as a latrine. The other
considerations were those your are well aware of.. needs to be easily
washable, reasonably durable, not incredibly expensive. First I tried
those specially made bet beds with the slip off covers. The first one
didn«t have strong backing on the bottom, so they promptly ripped all
the foam stuffing into shreds. The second one had a good backing, but
they slipped underneath the removable cover and again promptly tore it
apart. Both of these also had the problem that they were not anchored.
Three days ago I saw those cloth seat cushions that one buys to tie
onto wooden chairs ...completely closed, and with ties...furthermore,
extremely cheap. I bought one and brought it home to try.

Long story short, it works wonderfully. They like to sleep on it, it
blocks an "unauthorized" latrine corner (which only one of the three
sometimes used) and I know from other people that these wash easily.
Of course, if you don«t or can«t rig a place to tie it... (I rigged a
place to tie) then they would probably just move it wherever they want.

Moving of litter boxes. Two of my three LOVE moving the litter box.
About five minutes after moving the box, they poop where it used to
be. I have tile flooring in their room, so this is not as much of a
problem as it could be, but it is certainly an annoyance. First I tried
anchoring the box with a hot glue gun. This worked fairly well, but
then I realized that cleaning would be a disaster ... it was. I am
a teacher, have taught preschool through post-graduate ...just the
other day I was looking for yellow tac to hang some posters... and it
occurred to me. Well, I didn«t find any yellow tac, but I did find some
white tac made by bic. It took two strips, but now the box is firmly
anchored. Believe me, they have tried to move it. The tac is reusable,
but I think I will just use two new strips each week when I do a
thorough cleaning of the box. Again, this would only work if you don«t
have carpeting.

I hope these tips are useful to someone.

Later,
Jay
Costa Rica

[Posted in FML 6497]