easy, cheap, simple ferret gate!

[zoologist]

Chewey and Lily get freerange in my room, but my door is so high that even when it is closed Lily and the rats can get out the bottom. plus i'd rather have my door open to the house instead of shut all the time because of the animals.
I'd been wanting to build a gate for a while and finally came up with a relativly easy and cheap solution to a not so permenent gate

You'll need:
12 finishing nails
plexiglass or wood cut to the length of your door frame and the height you wish
hammer

ok, ready? Here's what you do. Hammer the nails into the door frame two at a time to create a "runner" to hold the wood or glass. nail down at the bottom, the middle and the top where the glass/wood will end. Slide the precut piece of glass/wood into the nail runner and voila- you're done!

SO SIMPLE. here are some pictures. I like the plexiglass, personally, and i got some AWESOME tape at Joann's that makes a great border. It's about 20 inches high so the ferrets cant get out and flush with the floor so my rats and lily can't get out. In my pics you'll notice i have two pieces- the shorter one is thicker and i got it for free. it's being used to stabilize the larger piece since it is thinner and wobbly. i like this type of gate better because its not obnoxious as the baby gates you get. and since it is flat and smooth there is no chance of the animals being able to climb up it. i love the plexiglass since it is seethrough and looks great with the house decor, its barely noticable!

enjoy!




Haha, Chewey! you're stuck!

close up of the framing and nails

close up of the nail runner.

[Chelsea]

I like how it looks with the plexi glass. Im sure it wont be long before it gets covered in scratches tho I just may have to make one now It looks much nicer than wood.

Personally I perfer gates on hinges so they can open like a door vs having to lift it up or step over it.
My gate is made of wood w/ hinges like a regular door. You could still do that with plexi glass tho. If the plexi glass is too thin for hinges to attach too, just use 2 peices of ply wood about 2-3" wide, and however tall the plexi glass is. Drill some holes (I woulc do 4-5) thru the plexi glass about 1 inch from the edge, then screw the 2 pieces of wood together with the plexi glass in the middle, with the screws going thru the wood and the holes you made in the plexi glass. Then attach the hinges, and you've got a plexi glass door =)

[zoologist]

i love that idea! however, if i were to open the gate then there would be a flood of animals trying to get out, hehe! its just easier to step over it

So, already Lily figured out how to life the taller piece of plexiglass and my roommate found her wedged between the thin piece and the thick piece, SIGH! :roll: she's gonna be the death of me. so i just put some nails on top of the plexi glass so when it tries to be lifted it just hits the nails instead of sliding. more permenent than i wanted, but it works!

[Heather]

Ferrets are the ultimate problem solvers....well maybe creators I've had free roaming ferrets for years. My house is considered ferret proof.....well until the next little sod figures out some other way to get into someplace they're not supposed to be
ciao

[sherrylynne]

What a great idea! But I'm really surprised that 20" keeps them in there The baby gate I use is almost 3', and I've got one who can almost make it over just by jumping up and grabbing the top edge

[Heather]

Mad Max can dead jump 34 inches so I know what you're talking about. Thor is the only other ferret that I have that does these major leaps of faith so I was wondering if maybe they were an odity rather than the norm. I was beginning to think I had weird ferrets because people were always being able to keep them in playpens and behind baby gates. My guys just look at them as being challenges
ciao

[goingpostal]

We have the same setup for our ferret room and another one to block them from the kitchen, I have two sheets of plexi as well but only because it turned out to be too short, my girls couldn't get over it but the males can easily. Leave in one and it will stop them long enough for you to grab them if need be.

[zoologist]

haha i had the same problem. it took lily just three times to haul her butt over the short piece and chewey had figured it out by the next morning.

Now Lily will run up to the plexi glass, sit there and stare at it for a second, sigh, and run back to playing. haha she won't even try to jump it.

stretched out Lily is 18" and chewey is 22", thats why i went with 20". Chewey is too lazy to try to jump it.

[Kerit]

I haven't posted a picture of what we finally rigged to keep Hocus contained because, well, it's just not pretty! But he can jump the entire height of a regular playpen panel, and only needs one toe-hold to haul himself up however further he needs to go. He climbs like a demented squirrel.

I think the most amusing/frustrating part is how Pocus, like Chewey, sits on his lazy, soft butt and happily watches Hocus go about all the jailbreaking. It apparently never even enters his mind to try it himself.

[horse656]

thats awesome, but knowing me i'd forget that the plastic was there and walk right into it

[sherrylynne]

Apr 26, 2010 14:28:02 GMT -5 Kerit said:

I think the most amusing/frustrating part is how Pocus, like Chewey, sits on his lazy, soft butt and happily watches Hocus go about all the jailbreaking. It apparently never even enters his mind to try it himself.

The problem with some of mine is that they DO learn by watching

[Heather]

Most definitely. Captain Jack came here as a mild mannered sweety. He's taken up with Fun-Go B. Squiggly and Mad Max . He now hunts my cats, climbs the 7 foot cat towers, jumps and climbs in and out of enclosures, swims in the dog's water bowls, climbs up the cages and dumps bedding......the list is endless. None of these things he did before coming here. These are things that the other two furbrats do on a regular basis. Captain Jack now believes that pouncing on, scruffing and dragging the girls is an acceptable method of showing them he cares. This is not how he treated them when he first came here.
Ferrets do learn by observations .
ciao