Full STEAM Ahead: DIY Ferret Cage

My husband challenged me to find an inexpensive cage if I wanted to buy a ferret. Naturally, I took to craigslist. I got zero response to inquiries about whether cages were still available, and still, they were going to cost at least $70 (they are about $200 new). Naturally, I took to Pinterest. There were several bookshelves converted into rat cages, plastic totes converted in hamster homes…. and a picture or two of wire shelves pieced together to make a cage. Well, I happened to have some wire shelves that weren't being used…. sooooooo, one afternoon I got busy, and for the price of cable ties, shelf liner, a litter box, a water bottle, and food dish…. we have ourselves a DIY FERRET CAGE (my favorite kind!!!) I wasn't too good about taking pictures during the construction process, but it was really simple. Going two across and three high, I used cable ties to build up the shelves. Most are connected at the corners, but to add climbing platforms I floated some shelves across the width of the cage. There are three doors. If you look at the bottom left cube, you can see the main door providing access to the litter box. which has since been moved to the right side of the bottom level because the little weasel insisted on doing his thing in the right corner. On the right side of the middle level is another access door. And the top of the highest level opens on the left side so I can reach down into it.

I used scrap carpet from the basement to line the bottom of the cage. I cut it to size and burned the edges so they wouldn't fray.

The water bottle and bowl have been moved. He was lifting and chewing on the corner of the carpet scrap, but since moving the litter box to the right side and putting a cardboard box under it, he has stopped that.

The litter box had to be tied to the cage… the clips did nothing to keep it in place. The naughty little weasel flipped it up and moved it around the second we put him in his new home!

Because the wire is too harsh on little ferret feet, I found a roll of shelf liner to put on top of each platform, and covered them with fleece that I happened to have a ton of.

The first shelf I covered I cut strips and tied all three sides through the wires (the fourth side is closed where it folds over the shelf). Then I got tired and just tied the end, leaving the sides open. I figured the ferret with find his way inside the felt, and he has… but it hasn't been an issue, and I think he is over it actually.

Knowing how ferrets love to lounge I made these two no-sew hammock type things for him. He hasn't yet figured them out… it's been a week and he hasn't been in them at all, so I may take another look at reconfiguring them, but he is coming from a tank with no climbing opportunities or hammocks, so we thought maybe he just needs time to figure them out. The first day or two he didn't even know how to climb the levels of the cage, but he learned quick!

The hammocks were just scraps of fleece. On one I cut the edges and tied them up together on three sides and tied it to the sides of the cage. The other was a rectangle I cut holes in the top and looped some long pieces of scrap through to hang from the sides of the cage.

To elevate the cage and add storage I put it on top of an old TV stand we had bought at a garage sale about two and a half years ago for $8. I used these cable masonry staples to secure the cage. I put them wherever I easily reach in and hammer it down. I think I used six of them, spread throughout the bottom of the cage and alternated the direction they go in. The cage isn't moving, they worked great.

TADAAAAA!!!!

It doesn't look quite like this now. There has been some rearranging of the cage and adding of some slings and ladders as we've seen how he moves around in there and uses the space.

Here is Jacques in his new home.

He is named after Brian Jacques (pronounced "Jakes"), author of the Redwall Series.

Love those books. A lot.

I didn't want to name him after one of the ferrets in the series because they are always baddies (with two sort-of exceptions). But now that we've gotten to know our naughty weasel, I should have named him after one of those little villains!