One of the best cages on the market for ferrets is made by a company called Midwest. It is the Ferret Nation. Go to any pet forum and you'll see this cage mentioned over and over again.
According to the manufacturer, they designed the cage with ferret owners in mind. They watched the behavior of pets very closely and designed what they consider to be the perfect environment accordingly.
What makes the Ferret Nation so special? It has a few very convenient features.
Full-Cage Doors
Anyone who has ever tried to get a ferret out of a cage with small doors knows how difficult this is. The Ferret Nation has solved this problem. The saloon-style doors make up the entire front of the cage. This means that when you open them both, you have total access.
This makes it very easy to get your critters out if you need to. It also means setting up cage accessories like hammocks and wheels is a breeze. And no more trying to figure out if the wheel you want will fit through the door. Cleaning is also much simpler when you can easily reach every part of the cage.
Just be very, very careful when closing the doors and make sure nobody has tails or paws in the way.
Adjustable-Height Shelves
Each cage comes with a shelf that can be positioned exactly where you want it. This means that if you have a ferret who has trouble getting around, you can lower the shelf which makes the ramp leading up to it less steep.
The shelves are also the full width of the cage. This means it isn't possible for your ferret to fall accidentally between the side of the shelf and the cage wall.
Modular Add-On
To me, this is one of the biggest selling points. These cages are modular. They are sold in three different styles: one unit, two units, and an add-on unit.
Each unit has an adjustable shelf and ramp to get to it, which gives you two levels. The two unit model has a second unit that sits on top of the first, with an opening between them. It also has an additional ramp that goes from the shelf on the bottom unit up to the opening. This means you get four levels of your habitat in total. The ramp can also lock in place, shutting off access between levels if you need to separate your ferrets.
But the really exciting piece is the add-on unit. You can easily add another story to your ferret townhouse, so you can totally customize the amount of living space depending on how many pets you have.
Solid Bottom
The bottom of the cage floor is a solid pan which can be removed for easy cleaning. Some other cages have wire bottoms, which are very hard on ferrets' feet.
Casters and Storage
Another great feature is that the entire ferret kingdom sits on locking casters. You can roll the cages around to vacuum behind and under them, then move them back and lock them into place.
And there's a shelf of storage at the very bottom for your food, extra hammocks, etc.
So does that Ferret Nation have any drawbacks? Yes, there are a couple.
Wire Ramps
The ramps are powder-coated metal similar to the sides of the cages, while some poorer-quality cages have solid, plastic ramps. Although the inferior plastic ramps retain odors more than metal, those ramps are safer. About 3% of owners have problems with their pets' feet getting caught. The Ferret Nation would be the world's most perfect cage if it had solid ramps.
But people who want the high-quality Ferret Nation get around this problem by purchasing fabric ramp covers. These can be removed easily for cleaning, but prevent little paws from getting caught between the rungs. Just Google 'ferret nation ramp covers.'
1-inch Spacing Between the Bars
This is not a problem for ferrets, both adult and young, but if you ever decide to use the cage for other animals, such as pet rats or degus, it may be too wide. Juvenile rats and degus will be able to fit through anything that is wider than 1/2 inch. Some people get around this issue by putting vinyl-coated hardware cloth around the outside of the cage when they have young, small animals.
But as long as your cage is exclusively for large pets such as ferrets or chinchillas, or for adult animals only, you'll have no problems.
So if you want a ferret cage that is extremely well-made and will last for years, try the Ferret Nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment