So I met this young guy, married with a kid on the way who happened to have a ferret. I found out that he was keeping the ferret in a big aquarium at his mom's house so mentioned that the fumes from ferret pee (ammonia) is dangerous if not properly aerated. They put a fan in and left the "cage" by the window... Long story short, I was concerned about the health of the ferret (never actually meeting it) so I offered to make them a cage out of materials I had at home. The project was a real pain... I used a plastic coated wire cage, with about a 1/2" square weave. My guess is the wire was about 14 gauge, so knew I would have to use double layers in some places, and add "I" beams across the centers of the levels so it remained stiff. Of course, all flooring would be covered completely by rags so ferret tootsies would be safe. I built ramps, doubly secured doors, latches, etc... and held it all together with wire clamps of the same gauge. I used jeweler's pliers to bend and wrap each clamp. It took a number of days but I treated it as a hobby and a first run experience. I have a background in engineering and physics and used "bridge building" techniques to ensure the thing would be strong, safe, and secure. It needed no glue or other potentially dangerous materials. It is 3 stories, 4 feet high, 14 inches deep and about 3.5 feet wide. Each level has about 16 inches of headroom, and it sports one door each on the upper levels and 2 doors on the lowest level, one for easy removal and access to the litter box (a real plus!). Finally I put it in my room with my 4 ferrets and they immediately gave it a test run. They ran / climbed up and down the levels and rubbed their bodies all over the rags and sides of the thing, apparently marking it as "theirs". They tested the strength of the door and gave it the ferret "aok". So I took it over to this guy's mother's house and visited their ferret. I was impressed with the health of this guy - very cute, big, well watered and fed. The only thing wrong was he was in this stupid aquarium. I set up the cage and the ferret gave the thing a test run. I transferred his poopy litter into the brand new litter box I included as an add-on to the cage with an extra food dish and water bottle drip catcher (I am giving them the cage, with accessories for 15 bucks). I showed the guy that he would need to teach his ferret how to have him climb up and down the ramps on the levels. He pulled out the ferret's treats on the top level, and the ferret LEAPED AND CLIMBED up to get his treat in about a tenth of a second. Amazing how tummies sometimes have more brains than brains. The end. [Posted in FML issue 4312]