Hi, Robert and other FMLers.  I just thought I'd offer info on our cage to
you-I have saved the following as a ready-made email, since I have shared
the info with so many others.  Good luck!
 
-April
 
Hi.  My boyfriend built a beautiful cage for our two ferts that looks like
a piece of furniture, it's so nice.  Wire mesh sides stapled to a wood
frame (we got rid of all sharp edges-you can cover the edges along the
inside of the cage where the wire is stapled and meets the floor, ceiling,
supports, etc., anywhere the ferrets can get to, with Plexiglas strips-also
easier to clean Plexiglas than wire against wood) with wood supports and
bases.
 
However, since wood absorbs odors and can warp when wet, we covered the
floors/surfaces where the ferrets walk, have their litter box, etc., with
self-stick linoleum squares.  These are easy to apply and easy to clean, as
well as inexpensive.  They are easier to put down and more forgiving than
one cut-to-fit piece of linoleum, and easier to replace if you ever needed
to (you can do one at a time instead of ripping up the whole floor).
 
We covered our ramp to our second level (we only have two, but the cage is
pretty big-roughly 4'wide x 2.5' deep x 3.5 'high) with carpet to make it
easier for them to climb.  The ramp is hinged, too,so it's easy to lift out
of the way when cleaning the botton level.
 
The "first floor" has a full-sized litter box, a food bowl at the opposite
end and access to their water bottle.  There is also plenty pf room
"downstairs" to play.  The second level has a hammy for sleeping suspended
from the ceiling, a towel area for sleeping on the floor itself if they
want, room to play and a tube to crawl in and out of.  (Lots of toys get
rotated in and out, too!)
 
The top/ceiling is a strong enough piece of wood that we have several
plants and a small bookcase (really small) on top as well as various
keepsakes.  We needed it to look nice enough to keep in our living room
or any other room in our house without it detracting from our decor.  We
strung white nonblinking Christmas lights around the inside lip of the
top (on the outside of the cage, of course) along the "shelf" the top
creates and put them on a timer so they'd have a night light that wouldn't
interfere with them being able to sleep (not that that is ever a real
problem for our ferrets) yet they'd still have light to play by of they
are up at night.
 
The doors are in the center of the front and take up the whole height and
width of the front-it is much easier to clean the cage and do maintenance
inside it if you can easily get to all of it.  So the front is basically a
set of double doors, also made of wood frames with wire mesh.  They have
pretty brass hinges and handles.
 
If you want, I can borrow my roommate's digital camera and send a picture
of this whole thing.  I didn't mean to get so detailed, but I know I'd like
as much info as possible when I ask for advice, and I think my b-friend did
a great job.  We'd probably make the cage even bigger if they spent more
time in it or we added more ferrets, but they hang out in my home office
and bedroom all day (I work at home) and we spend lots of time with
them-they're only really in there when we go out or sometimes when we
sleep.  But they've got plenty of room either way when they're in there.
They have lots of room to play and wrestle!
 
He stained all the wood and sealed it and gave it several days to dry and
defume (I don't think that's a word) before we put the ferrets in it.  This
protects the wood from any wetness, water or otherwise, as well as making
it really look great.  (Oh, and I helped!)
 
Hope this helps!
[Posted in FML issue 3397]