xeopse
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Raw Feeder
Posts: 235
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Post by xeopse on Dec 8, 2010 11:52:39 GMT -5
*sigh* With great regret, I am chalking up the aviary conversion as a failure. I wanted a massive cage, well yes - I definitely got one of those. However, it's such a major PITA to clean that I just can't deal with it. It is six feet high, meaning that it is so tall that I need a chair to get inside. I have no problem with this EXCEPT its 4 feet deep so that means I have to literally crawl inside almost up to my hips to reach the back. And normally I wouldn't really have a problem with that either, BUT the littler boogers have started to poop everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. Apparently they can't wait to get down to the litterbox, even though they do it perfectly fine in their cage for all four floors. I'm not too bummed about it, BUT I will be looking into just getting two ferret nations and putting them side by side and removing the side walls. I am probably going to sell this aviary and the whole set up if I can't figure out how to make it work. Pros: - It's absolutely massive. I can fit everything in there including 14 feet of drainage tubing which they love to play in constantly. - Because it utilizes vertical space and not horizontal space, it works way better than if I were to put two FNs next to each other - I only have an 800 sq ft loft but I have 12 foot ceilings, so using vertical space here is a necessity. - it looks AWESOME - The ferrets love it, I hear them playing nonstop now and it makes them exercise more - I love my tube ramps, I cut sections of drainage tubing and used them for ramps connected to blastgates so I can section off levels if I needed to, the ferrets have a ball on those Cons: - It uses up way more bedding than I can keep up with in my crappy washing machine - I need to buy more litterboxes apparently - Standing on the chair and still having to practically crawl inside to take out dirty bedding, etc is a nightmare For those that have no idea what I'm talking about - this has been a work in progress for some time now. There are "before" pictures somewhere in this discussion section, but I'll try t o post them when I go home. At the very least, this cage is awe-inspiring and the ferrets love it despite it wreaking havoc on my sanity. Attachments:
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sherik
Going Natural
Posts: 105
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Post by sherik on Dec 8, 2010 14:07:38 GMT -5
Wow that is a beautiful cage.
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xeopse
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Raw Feeder
Posts: 235
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Post by xeopse on Dec 8, 2010 14:50:14 GMT -5
Oh don't get me wrong, the thing is great - it has a 2 foot tall kitty condo with a semi-enclosed den insane that is all carpeted. It has a big litterbox down on the first floor too, and king sized fleecey sheet I found at a second-hand store all bundled up for them to burrow and roll around in. It now has another hidey hole kitty condo thing that I put a small blanket it and they curl up inside that too and use it as a step to get to the top of the condo if htey don't feel like climbing teh carpet.
The floors I covered in vinyl for easy cleaning, and I used a waterproof wood composite for edges to help keep food and spills inside the cage, and to prevent little toes getting stuck in there. There is 96 feet of the composite edging in there, so that just gives you a general idea of how massive this cage is.
The cleanability is an issue though, and it's a narrow squeeze to get between the levels aside from the bottom floor. I think I might remove a floor, actually. Less room for them to play on but less for me to clean too - it's impossible to fill with sooooo much bedding! Laundry is a nightmare. I also need to get more litterboxes but I don't live anywhere convenient to a pet store so I need to trek out on one of my very few days I ever get off once school ends on Friday. If someone had a normal 9-5 job or something, where they had more time to dedicate to cleaning the cage/doing laundry (I don't even have a dryer where I live, so that's the biggest issue with laundry) then I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue. Pretty soon I'll just be working 10-6 but that's only for a month. Hopefully between that time I can figure out a better cleaning schedule than what I was/am doing.
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Post by Kerit on Dec 8, 2010 17:31:37 GMT -5
I have to say, whenever I see a post of someone asking for plans or ideas for making their own cage, I cringe a little... been there.
My original three lived in a huge modified birdcage when I first got them, since I thought it was a good idea to not spend money on a new cage if I didn't have to. It worked... I guess. Small doors, hard to hang hammocks, rigged shelves, the usual. After a few times taking care of the fuzzies for me, my mom asked if she could buy a Ferret Nation herself!
Seriously, I love the FN. Being able to have the whole-floor litterbox is the best thing I've done for human-ferret relations in this house.
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Post by rarnold18 on Dec 8, 2010 17:47:05 GMT -5
I had converted an old entertainment center to a ferret cage, it was awesome and worked well...until the monsters decided they could pull up the vinyle floor...that was the beginning of the end because I have a few that are resistant to litter training so their urine soaked the wood and of course once it's there no matter what you use it's impossible to get out, even with vinegar and water. So I stalked Amazon and a few other site and managed to snag a brand new FN142 about a month ago for $145, it was quite the score and as much as I loved our homemade cage the FN is really much easier to clean. We had two not so social girls in an old super pet now that was a pain to clean the doors were to small for me to "fit" in and my arms are just too stumpy! So I got a 143 add on and now have over 7ft of FN wonderfullness! Needless to say my two unsocial girls are now enjoying bunking with the rest of the crew even if that does mean they have to share their comfy hanging cube thingy!
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Dec 8, 2010 18:11:15 GMT -5
Soooo been there. I first started out with a C&C small cage, fixed a entertainment type cage, and than finally..just paid for the fn because everything else ether was too small, flimsy, trapped stains, or just plain STUNK.
So..while I spent nearly 200 on building the two cages, I could of just saved the money and bought a fn.
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 8, 2010 19:43:15 GMT -5
Only thing I could think of to make the cage easier to clean is if you could install another door on the opposite side of the existing one. Not a clue how much that would cost, though. But yeah- it's pretty darned amazing Just thought of something else!!! A remote litter box! holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cage&action=display&thread=350It just might be workable.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Dec 8, 2010 21:39:48 GMT -5
I know how you feel....I have ferts running lose in a room. I can't get everything clean at once....very frustrating. I clean more that I spend time playing with my brats I've started bringing home a lot of cardboard ad cardboard boxes from work and line the sides of the walls and put the boxes on their ides so the brats use them as potty boxes. I just pitch the card board. It's still overwhelming, but it does help. I you can get cardboard boxes, you can use them until you get the fN's (I have 6 FN units (two 3-story side-by -sides. it's still a lot to clean, and I need a step ladder for the top floor too. -jennifer
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Post by goingpostal on Dec 9, 2010 12:13:18 GMT -5
Mine are running around a room as well and once Tweek, my absolutely could not potty train for anything ferret passed we haven't had hardly any potty accidents. I used to have 4-5 cages set up, 7 litter pans and stuff everywhere to prevent accidents and it took me 1.5 hours to fully clean the room plus a ton of laundry. One of the cages was a really tall disaster setup, the ferrets had pottied on the shelves in their previous home and they are adjustable so pee was underneath them, I had to take the whole giant top off to clean it, it had built it tubes which were impossible to clean, I was so glad to shove that cage in storage. Oh and guess who got rancid ferret pee all over the first time I tried to clean it. Yep, that was fun.
Now we are down to one cheapo wire cage to hold water dishes, 3 litter pans and it's so much nicer. Although I am currently "trying out" some swheat scoop and that's going out the window today, way too much tracking. I can't deal with constant sweeping. Still don't have a FN but since they aren't ever caged don't see it necessary.
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Post by Polecatty on Dec 9, 2010 21:39:07 GMT -5
Oh don't get me wrong, the thing is great - it has a 2 foot tall kitty condo with a semi-enclosed den insane that is all carpeted. It has a big litterbox down on the first floor too, and king sized fleecey sheet I found at a second-hand store all bundled up for them to burrow and roll around in. It now has another hidey hole kitty condo thing that I put a small blanket it and they curl up inside that too and use it as a step to get to the top of the condo if htey don't feel like climbing teh carpet. The floors I covered in vinyl for easy cleaning, and I used a waterproof wood composite for edges to help keep food and spills inside the cage, and to prevent little toes getting stuck in there. There is 96 feet of the composite edging in there, so that just gives you a general idea of how massive this cage is. The cleanability is an issue though, and it's a narrow squeeze to get between the levels aside from the bottom floor. I think I might remove a floor, actually. Less room for them to play on but less for me to clean too - it's impossible to fill with sooooo much bedding! Laundry is a nightmare. I also need to get more litterboxes but I don't live anywhere convenient to a pet store so I need to trek out on one of my very few days I ever get off once school ends on Friday. If someone had a normal 9-5 job or something, where they had more time to dedicate to cleaning the cage/doing laundry (I don't even have a dryer where I live, so that's the biggest issue with laundry) then I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue. Pretty soon I'll just be working 10-6 but that's only for a month. Hopefully between that time I can figure out a better cleaning schedule than what I was/am doing. That's a wonderful cage, but I think you might be creating more work than necessary with all the bedding in there. Honestly, I would ditch most of the bedding and think you would have a much easier time if you went that route. As long as they have a nice box filled with warm bedding [ all ferrets should have an enclosed den anyway] they do not need it spread all over the floor- they will be perfectly happy with the vinyl surface. I have a similar cage- one that I have to get into if I want to manually reach the back of it. Most of the time this isn't necessary- I use a pole with a crook on the end of it to hook out any nestboxes/ bedding, tunnels and litterboxes that I want to mess with, and use a mop to reach into the back to clean the surface. I have a wood surface, so you would likely have even better results with this method on vinyl. It works very well and is beyond easy. I reckon a similar implement would suit your cage as well. I would definitely get rid of all that bedding on the ground, especially in the harder to reach areas. If the surface is solid and not wire then there is really no need for it- my guys haven't had bedding on the ground for years, just in their nest boxes. They are quite content with this set up and it will not overtax your washing machine.
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Post by rarnold18 on Dec 9, 2010 23:50:31 GMT -5
huh! I wouldn't of thought of a mop! The Libman brand cleaning supplies has a great scrub brush, well I guess it's more of a deck brush, that is on a 4ft pole so you could probably use that to get to the out of reach places that need the extra scrubbing...heck depending on how far you need to reach you might even be able to use a toilet bowl scrubber brush type thing!
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xeopse
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Raw Feeder
Posts: 235
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Post by xeopse on Dec 10, 2010 0:04:47 GMT -5
would ditch most of the bedding and think you would have a much easier time if you went that route. As long as they have a nice box filled with warm bedding [ all ferrets should have an enclosed den anyway] they do not need it spread all over the floor- they will be perfectly happy with the vinyl surface. Oh, I know they don't NEED bedding to live in. It's just that they use everything as a bathroom unless something is there. Any bare areas in their old cage (a critter nation) were always immediately pooped on by all five before I could even reach the cage. I figured in their new cage they would bring along that trend... not so much. I think there is just so much room in there they need an extra box which I will be getting shortly. The whole thing was a learning experience and I'm not that bummed out about it. Because of the lack of room here in our current place we will probably keep this set up until we move in May unless I find some ridiculously cheap FN's on CL or something. They do love the burrowing in their blankets, too - like a lot. There are so many folds and tunnels that they make every day with all that room. I also am doing the cardboard thing - I get boxes from work all the time and a lot of them are just small enough to fit through the front door and between the shelves. For some reason they started pooping in boxes as a litterbox which is weird because they never did that before, but I just recycle the whole thing with the rest of my paper and cardboard so whatever. I think you might be onto something though - no tracking litter. That's the only thing I miss about Yesterdays News.. no tracking *sigh* too bad it didn't do much of anything else for five ferrets. All in all, the ferrets approve, but mum does not. Mum just has a few too many other million things to do than 800 loads of laundry. They seem pretty happy with it - they are all FAR more active than they used to be in their Critter Nation 162 - it's the same size as the FN 142 but it wasn't enough for five to run around and play like this one does. If I get another cage I will just get two FN 142's stuck together. The standing on a chair thing SUCKS and I don't know if I have the patience to use a sawsall to cut off the legs and modify it like the instructions say. AND I Thought about doing a remote litter box BUT 1) I'd like to resell this cage when I'm done with it, it's otherwise perfectly acceptable to be used as is with someoen that doesn't need to do so much laundry or back to being an aviary so if I cut holes in it that would ruin it, 2) no room in this place - it's a corner unit and this is the only corner in my place isn't full of furniture or right next to my bed (let me tell you how that will NEVER happen!) and there's not enough room on either side for me to put the remote container outside of the cage. Plus, I seriously wonder if it's a distance thing. They have to go about twice the distance now than they diid before the more I look at it. Same amount of floors though. I dunno, they never had this problem before but I wonder if maybe they just can't hold it as long?
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Post by mjohn143 on Dec 10, 2010 8:39:59 GMT -5
I think your cage would be great if you could somehow get bigger doors!! I mean I love the FN I have, but that has noticably more floor space!
If you do go with an FN I recommend what Kerit has done. I used to have a 2 story FN with one small litter box on each level, but the weasels still pooped other places. So I ordered the 3rd story add-on, got rid of the small litter boxes, bought a big mixing tub at lowes for $11 (it fits like it was made for the FN), and I put it on the bottom level and use swheat scoop litter. So I now have 2 litterbox free areas and one level only for litter. It works so great and I have not had a SINGLE accident since switching...even with the 2 new ferrets I have acquired since then! I scoop it out every night before putting them up to bed and clean it out once a week. It really cuts out so much time from my cleanging regiment. Just to note, when I first did the switch I stuffed blankets everywhere to help them out, but now I don't have to use so many bc they know where the potty is.
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Post by Jackie on Dec 11, 2010 22:33:50 GMT -5
I love your cage! I'm so jealous! What brand is that? What kind of modifications did you have to do? I'll trade my ferret nation for your cage :-)
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xeopse
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Raw Feeder
Posts: 235
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Post by xeopse on Dec 12, 2010 0:29:20 GMT -5
@ Jackie, it's a flight cage that was made for small birds. It's worth over $1000 which is less than what it cost new according to the catalog the lady gave me that I bought it from. The cage is very sturdy but light and is on casters which is great, plus the whole thing can break down fairly easily - however, it is way too big to fit through standard door frames =( If I had more time or maybe I am just too close-minded to think of a better arrangement than what I currently have it would be great. For the life of me I just can't figure out what it is. On the plus side, since moving to this cage my dominant female hasn't started peeing outside ofh er cage like she always did in the FN. I took all the bedding out last night to clean it though and it actually cleans VERY well - it's just that i have a whole laundry basket full of bedding to wash now in a super crappy washing machine so i'll have to tkae it to a laundromat. I'm debating selling this cage - the ferrets love it, two of my friends saw it today and were just amazed with it, and to be honest it really really bada** BUT its a high maintenance cage which being a full time student and full time paralegal I just don't have time for when I could be spending it with the ferrets and my dog. Time is a precious luxury for me. I think maybe i"m just doing something wrong =( Jackie, if you'd be interested in purchasing it I can break the whole thing down and send it down there. Your tag says you're in FL? There's lots of people that go back and forth to FL (my best friend just did it himself to bring a car back up for his brother) and look for a little help with gas money in exchange for delivering it. I can put up everything I did with it but buying a used flight cage was hard to come by AND i tried for the longest time to buy one new... they are like $2k!!! I know some bird people and I know they spend everything on their birds, so I shouldn't be that surprised I guess
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