There are two good places to get fat-ferret tubing.  One is a hose and
tube store (yeah, such places really exist!) - look in the phone book
under hose.  The other is a carpet stores dumpster.
 
Tubing from the specialty store is quite expensive.  When I was there
having a 100 foot potable hose built, I entertained myself wandering
among the various merchandise types, fantesizing about my ferrets running
through all that stuff.  I couldn't afford to indulge.
 
We have, however, a large cardboard tube that carpet comes on.  It's about
3 years old and is still in great shape.  And should the ends become
frayed, you can trim a new edge with a knife.
 
Our largest ferret is 4.5 pounds, and he goes through the cardboard tube
easily.  He also goes through the Home Depot drain pipe, and the bubble
tubes on his cage.  The bubble tubing is a tight squeeze.
 
Go for the cardboard!
 
Georgia
[Posted in FML issue 2720]