I finally made a digging box fof Polly and Katie.  I bought an understorage
box (two actually, for some reason they were sold in sets...) measuring 24
1/4" 14 3/4" X 11 high.  Added about 4" of damp sand.  Added the ferrets.
 
It was a big hit!!  They spent about an hour climbing in and out, digging,
scooting, and snorkling.  :-) :-)
 
The set up isn't perfect.  For one thing, in a perfect setup, every grain of
sand would stay in the box and none would stick to the ferrets little paws
and whiskers when they leave, to be tracked about.  OK, I knew that would be
an issue, but I still wanted sand rather than gravel, because I figured the
sand would be more fun.  I just couldn't see them snorkling in gravel.  For
now there is a towel on the floor, and that catches *some* of the sand.
 
The ventilation isn't good.  Not surprising since the box was manufactured
to be airtight (one of those oversized Rubbermaid type deals, but a
different brand name).  I'm planning to either drill holes in the sides near
the top, or cut sections of the lid out and replace the sections with fine
mesh metal screen (to let air in but keep sand in.) I like the idea of mesh
in the lid (because it won't weaken the box itself when it's lifted with all
that sand in it), but I want to make sure they can't remove it and escape
once it is hooked to their cage.  (Any suggestions?)  They are caged most
of the time, and loose part of the time in one room (usually caged if
unsupervised due to the ongoing issue with carpet digging... :-( )
 
In an attempt to increase air (and provide access) but keep the sand from
flying everywhere, I cut about 1/3 of the lid off, and left the 2/3 portion
over the top.  For now they can get in and out the front.  They can (and do)
also push off the lid.  So tommorow I'll be buying 1/2" black binder clips
to hold the lid down.
 
I want to hook it to their cage so they have access during the day.  The
cage already has drainage tubing attached; I need to cut a hole in the side
of the digging box and hook it to a piece of drainage tubing.  This will
involve replacing part of the tubing which connects their two cages with a T
joint (another thing I have to buy), so one end will lead to the box.
 
In case anyone is interested, the pair of storage boxes was about $17, and
the sand (50 lb bag of which I used about half) was $4.  I have small
ferrets (each of my two is about 1 1/4 lbs), and if anything, I'd recommend
a bigger box than the one I got.
 
And for all the fun they are having IN the box, Polly has not completely
lost her desire to dig at the carpet itself.  *sigh*  Maybe once they have
more access to it that will change.  (Hey, I can dream, right?)
 
Ilena Ayala
and the two sandy-pawed ferrets Polly and Katie
[Posted in FML issue 2219]