I don't know about "remarkable," elaborate maybe, but necessary. lol Here's what I do.
I keep things clean - obviously - and feed raw so there's no smell, no allergens. The ferrets are in my room, I have black curtains always closed, and my bedroom door (right across the entryway from the front door lol) is always closed when I am not home and most of the time when I am, as well the cage is in a corner of the room that when the door IS cracked partially open, it is still somewhat out of site.
I am very careful to prevent/hide any destruction. My entire be
I used to have a age that was collapsible and could be somehwat hidden. I now have a FN cage - even better than collapsible. When there is any risk that maintenance might be entering the house, I convert the FN cage into a storage unit. The boys are taken either to Shane's house (bf) where he watches them (they also have a very small temporary cage there) or with me to work where they wait in their kennel in the back room and I let them out on breaks to go potty and stretch. Usually this only lasts until Lunch when I take them to Shane's or Shane picks them up.
To convert the FN cage, I take the doors off and hide them under the cage, covered by other stuff, or in a suitcase. I put the two half level shelves at the halfway point on the top level, facing each other, so that it looks like one shelf. The bottom level I fill with bigger tupperwares, boxes, and suitcases, and the top level (consisting of 2 shelves now) I fill with text books, smaller boxes, etc and a few decorative things like candles. To be really thorough, you could hang a picture on the side. The story is that you needed some storage space, and a friend offered you the metal storage unit for free - way cheaper than
buying nicer shelves!
If they comment on it, then yes, you think it used to be some sort of animal cage or something, but it works great as a storage unit.
Pictures:
Hiding the litter box in an empty paper box I got from work.
The cage, I mean "storage unit"
(I stuffed the bag on the top shelf last minute but there are some novels and candles behind it.)
All Ferret things are removed from anywhere and everywhere in the house and stuffed into suitcases and boxes. NOT in clear tupperware. Except for the rice. I like to buy in bulk but ran out of room in the kitchen to store a big bag of rice. So I put it in a tupperware to keep it fresh.
the feeding den and New litter box are both tupperwares. I can put things in them and turn the box so the hole is facing inside towards another box and hidden by it.
For Traveling I have a cat kennel in my car. I keep it in my car it never enters the apartment. It comes into two parts which can stack inside of each other and be put into the trunk, or have shoes or whatever put into it in the backseat. I just stick mine still put together in the space behind the driver seat. If asked (no one should be peeking into my car!) I can say it used to be for taking my iguana to the vet. She outgrew it and I just never bothered getting rid of it.
To get in/out of the apartment, I have a bag they go in. It has blankets in it, and the zipper locks closed via a clip and safety pin so they can't wiggle their noses out. I hold the bag over my shoulder and tight to my side with my arm, and tuck my hand under. This minimizes wiggling, and if they do wiggle I can either apply gentle pressure (don't squeeze them lol) to get their attention/curiosity for a second, or pretend to move the bottom of the bag with my hand to adjust it to "explain" the movement. the bag is similar to this, only not this at all - it was much cheaper haha it came with a blanket and is fuzzy inside.
www.zappos.com/victorinox-werks-traveler-3-0-wt-shopping-tote-sapphire-blackA picture of mine kind of...not the best but...
Once in the car, I drive a little ways away (like down the block) and transfer them into the kennel for the rest of the ride. On the way home I reverse this and park at a strip mall near my apartment and transfer them into the bag before getting home and stuff the kennel back into the back of my car.
I do not rush, but I don't linger between the parking lot and my door.
I don't befriend neighbors (too busy anyways lol) and just mind my own business. We follow the rules otherwise and keep things pretty quiet. The ferrets - for multiple reasons - are not allowed out of the cage unless Shane or I are home. I am also very friendly to the land lord - I give her cookies for the holidays, pay rent on time, and chit chat with her on occasion (like when I drop by a check or call about something). She is fun to talk to anyways so that helps. Besides, nothing wrong with a little "brown nosing."
Hope that helps maybe...