Hi! I just *have* to tell ya'll about the cage we just bought for our ferts; i have been hearing a LOT of discussion about the inappropriateness of the Midwest cages (we have one, too- had the same problems).. and before i say what i want to say, i also want to state that i have no other interest in this person's business except that he builds the best cages i have ever seen!! (and who doesn't want the best for their kids?) The best thing is, what we got ( he custom-makes them) was about the same price as the Midwest Cage; maybe thirty dollars more, i dunno- but get this!! It is the size of TWO Midwest cages (we put them together) and has four floors in it with two big litter boxes!! Miles will help me to get a pic site of it on here, but let me tell you; this thing is a behemoth; and our ten (yes, i said ten- i'll explain later) kids just love it! Lots of room to run and play, ramps aren't too steep, floors are fully long,... i have never seen a cage as good as this one, and we have tried five of them! The way we have ours set up, each floor has a connecting door that connects the 'two' cages together- which means it's easy to separate the kids if one is sick, etc. It's about six feet long by three or four feet high and two feet wide. It takes up quite a bit of our living room! *but our babies are worth it!* .... i just wish i'd found this out sooner! There's room for one of those carpeted cat-bed thingies which is kind of like a little cave to them, plus lots of blankies and hammocks(which mommy has to sew yet) and toys and..... :o) We paid somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred for our Midwest cage, and this whole setup we have now only cost us $330.00!!! It's made of black coated wire, the potties slide out of the bottom for easy empty/refill, and i think it is just the greatest thing... we probably have room for about ten more kids now! *not that i'm tempted... no, uh-uh... :o) * If anybody wants the addy/phone # of the guy who makes these, e-mail me at [log in to unmask] and i will give you the info. The only bad part of it was that we had to assemble it ourselves, and it didn't come with instructions because we ordered it custom-made... but the guy told us over the phone how to put it together. And for two disabled people, it wasn't that hard to do! Okay, enuff gushing over the new digs... time to re-introduce my kids, since we added a few since i last introduced them! We are the blessed servants of: Princess Hawat- cutiepie 101, chubbygirl, dumpybutt, etc. Bet you can guess why! She's so sweet and loveable... Princess Rachael- Treatmonster, treatgirl, half-pint, etc. She's so sweet and tiny, i can almost hold her in one hand! Princess Noelle- GirlPower(coz she kicks everybody's butt).. this girl rocks!! :) Princess Hannah the Brave- we named her after our HannahBananaBear.. she's a tiny albino female, i thought Rachael was slim until i held this little girl! Need to fatten her up a bit! She's a sweetie, but she's been abused before, i think. Haven't had her very long, but she trusts us already... Frodo Bagginsferret- FashionPlate, Momma's Pretty Boy.. etc. Silver Mitt baby who at six months is already as big as our four year old Thufir... and still growing! *sigh* Bilbo Bagginsferret- PrettyBaby, PrettyBoy, etc. He's got such a luxurious coat! He, Rachael, and Thufir are all dark sables; he's a lovey boy, and has a fascination with my computer! ( i think it's really the Coke he's after...) Rafferty the Meek- Raffy, Raffy-Taffy, sweetie-poo, etc. Raff is really a shy one; he still spooks sometimes, but lets us love on him a lot; he's such a sweetheart, and wouldn't hurt anybody! Thufir the Wise- Alphaferret, Thufie, Old Man, etc. Thuf's been through a lot with us ( our house fire, almost dying from heat stroke when our heater broke on a 100degree day- it was about 120 degrees when we got home and Hawat I was already gone... but Miles was able to bring Thufie back; praise the Lord!) and he is such a survivor! He's having probs. with the new boys now, because they pick on him, so he in turn picks on Raffy; we don't know what to do, except get the new boys fixed on Friday! Hope it helps! Gandalf the White- albino hob; boy, have he and Gowron let us know what poofing is all about! *Peeeee-yyyeeewwww!!!* we about have to don gas masks when they do that! *g* Gowron the Psychofert- aptly named!!! He's taken a chunk out of both mine and Miles' fingers already! Without Troy Lynn's counsel (thank you, Troy Lynn!!) we might have given up; but they are adjusting, and we can even pick them up sometimes and pet them! We're hoping getting them fixed and a Depo-Provera shot will calm their violent tendencies. Boy, they've sure been working Thuf over; his neck is so red! But then he picks on Raffy! We don't know what to do! :( A special thanks to BIG for this list; we've learned a lot from it; back when we started serving ferrets, they didn't come with an instruction manual! Oh, Miles tried the 'scruffing' of Gandalf with his mouth (Miles', not Gandalf's!)... he looked so hilarious with this fert hanging from his mouth, i just wished i had film in the camera!! Miles looked at me and said thru clenched teeth,"Mmmm... tastes just like chicken!!" ... i just about lost it right there!!! *BG* I hope BIG lets this post.. it may be too big. We just want to send out heartfelt condolences to all of those with fuzzies who have passed over, or are ill at this time... we pray for them often. Also a huge "Get well soon!" to the Bhor Bob, who constantly amazes me with his knowledge of both ferts and bones ( i'm studying anthropology and plan to become an osteopathic physician/forensic anthropologist)... i'm sure glad you made it out alive, and your babes did too! Hope things get better for you soon! Well, i think that is enough for now! Again, if anybody wants that addy/phone #, just e-mail me.. i don't know how BIG would like it if i 'advertised' it on the FML...not sure how those type of things are supposed to go.... *Remembering the Fuzzies who have crossed over, and their grieving families* ~ Telaraj, Miles, and the Ten Tornadoes ~ [Moderator's note: If the post was really too long, the server would automatically send it back. I never would know you even sent it. BIG] [Posted in FML issue 2434]