My husband and I have some of the heavy clear dust collection hoses.
They are WONDERFUL!!  The really heavy, and more expensive hoses are so
tough that you can stand on them and they won't bend.  We have one that
we've had for a few years and there is not a puncture anywhere on it.
One of the extra benefits, other than lasting forever, is that they are
quiet.  We run a small rescue from our home and when the littles are out
playing in the super pet tubes you hear the click, click, click of tiny
little toe nails everywhere.  When they run thru the dust collection
hoses you don't get that sound.
 
A less expensive place to get the tubes is at the Woodworker Shops.
They run approx. $30 for a 10' section.  Those aren't the super thick
tubes but they are still quite a bit thicker than dryer hose tubes.
 
We also use the blast gates that are used for dust collection with our
ferrets too.  We have put our litter boxes in cabinets outside the cages.
Then we connected tubes to blast gates which are fixed on the side of
cabinet.  (When you see a picture of a blast gate you can see how it
works.) When the litter pans need scooped we slide the door to the blast
gate shut so the ferrets can't come thru, scoop, then slide the door back
open.  It is a huge time saver and makes scooping much easier.  Our
ferrets like to "help" with the scooping.  This way we can scoop
uninterrupted and have more time to play with them.
 
With all the different connectors they sell for these tubes you could put
together a very elaborate tunnel system for ferrets to play in.
 
I would recommend them to anyone with ferrets.  They do cost more but
will last a lot longer.
 
Nancy
[Posted in FML issue 5331]