Ferret Nation pics, everybody post your FNs here!!

[Lise]

For you guys that absolutely stuff your FN full of fun stuff.... do you have to wipe everything down and switch stuff out every couple of days?  I'm assuming it can't be left for a week or it would smell horribly.

[gem_max]

I've got a FN sized cage and since SoA inspired me to switch to fabric bedding and fill it with this and that I've found it doesn't get all icky or smelly at all as long as I put towelling washers where the boys sleep and change them every 1-2 days, wipe the giant food tile with vinegar/water every night and spot clean the stray poopies in the morning and before bed.

I've got EVERYTHING anchored in some way with the binder clips that the handles fold over, pegs where they can't go, the tiles, pavers and rocks. This way the only thing they can drag around and pee on is the loose washers... which the current trend is to 'put the lab blocks to bed' with. Silly, cute boys.

The rest of the bedding is rotated out as needed so usually a single thing gets replaced every 3 days.

EDIT: forgot to mention: just keep a spray bottle of vineger and water near the cage and something to wipe with and give things like igloos, toys a wipe as needed, though really they don't get as gross as you might think. It might seem like a lot of work, but I prefer it to huge weekly cleanings and ratties need some sort of daily cleaning anyway.

[jorats]

I follow my nose. I've got a good sense of smell and if it's stinky, it comes out. But I put in extra cut up fleece and they seem to do their business on those and I just change them when needed usually every second day. But the toys, the hammocks, wood chews, don't get peed on at all. I must be lucky!

[WS]

Dumb question:  -- Is that mid level all solid so that the effect is two cages?

What do you use to keep the fleeces and bedding towels down -- just binder clips?  (That's a good idea!)

[OldsGal]

Yes the middle level is an entire floor.  There is a small square cut out in the corner for the ramp and access to that level from the bottom.  The nice thing is that the ramp that attaches those to levels lifts up and clips so that you can shut off the two levels from eachother.  So yes you could use it for two seperate cages.  I like to do this when I am cleaning the cage so that I am not fighting my little guys to clean.  Before when I had them in the Super Pet I would have to drag out a spare cage to put them in or close them up in the bathroom while I cleaned. 

The way I attach the fabric to the levels is two ways.  First if I am just using towels on the large pans I just fold them over and tuck them under the pan.  The rats leave them alone.  If I am using bath mats on the level I try to tuck them as best as possible and again the rats leave them alone.  The fabric on the two smaller shelves I just lay up there and then reposition it whenever I am at their cage which is all the time anyway now that it is so easy to open up the doors wide open and play with them.  But you could easily use binder clips. 

Staci

[DolciLady]

Fank you, Auntie Javakittie for our speshul FN liners and covers!!  The boys want to show em off.

Beanie says, "Dis is pwetty!  And comfy on da feet!"


Darwin says, "Dis is niiiiiiiice!!"  My dubs Auntie Kat!   


Leroy says, "Dis is pwetty, nice tablecloth to leave block dust on, Mommy!"


And lastly, SugarBaby.  "Wook, Mommy.  I made a peepee and marked it good!!!  Dis nice liner from Auntie Kat is ALL MINE NOW!"


And for general principle, the entire cage.


Robin

[lilspaz68]

New pics... after easy cage cleaning... I took some pics of mainly the bottom part because I changed a few things around since I was adding a new little guy to the group.

Doors open with new little guy Sebastian in the front:



Again, Seb in the bottom:

Just ogling the beautiful setups of your FN's and saw little Sebastien...had to awwww!   

[javakittie]

Yay!!! I'm so glad yew like dem, muh boyos!! Dahwin, yew wook sooooo happy!! Auntie Kat wikes makin da Dahwin happies!! And Beanies and Lewoy, and Sugah-bebe, too!!!

Glad they turned out so well and that the boys like em, Robin!  That color looks fabulous on them!

[Elysium]

Here's our FN... Its still kind of bare right now since I have a ton of rat laundry to do!  I'm also getting a full shelf liner set from SoA! 

These pictures where taken this morning after it was cleaned.


Top half before the girls attacked. 


Bottom half after the girls attacked! They pulled the blankie off of that top shelf and bunched all the other blankets around. Silly girls! 

[Kimmiekins]

I LOVE seeing FN pics. I wish I could post ours! As I said in my FN thread, though, our camera is broken! A new camera will be bought in about a week & a half. Not soon enough.  Hopefully, though, we'll order our liners from SOA and have even better pics then if we had pics now (did that make sense?).  The boys are doing well with the blankets - better then other cages - but they still like to rearrange. I love how roomy it is, even though we've got SO MUCH STUFF in there.

Keep the pics coming!

[Kiwi_and_Mango]

I am in love with all of your FN's
I want one so MUCH! But I live in the UK 
I'll have to make do with the pics...So keep posting them so I can envy you and wish I had one

[gem_max]

If we can get them over here in Australia now I'm sure they must be in the UK? Just email them and find out if and who they're importing through. In our case it's Masterpet and you order in through a petshop. We can't get the extra shelves here yet, but once we can I am determined to have one... though hopefully the price will have dropped.

Lookin great everyone!

[★TheChicagoCrew★]

There are some pretty impressive Ferret Nation decorators here! I see a lot of ideas I'd like to incorporate into my two FNs.

 Question -- in the last photo, what is the shelving/double decker thing on the right? I saw it in SoA's pic too. What is it, where did you get it, etc.

-Melina

[javakittie]

It looks somewhat like one of those shower caddy things. I know my Home Depot carries a simple double shelf with a little towel rack like thing on the sides.

[fuzzybee]

I am in love with all of your FN's
I want one so MUCH! But I live in the UK 
I'll have to make do with the pics...So keep posting them so I can envy you and wish I had one

You can get them in the UK, but they are NOT CHEAP!
Here's one on ebay for £185:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rat-Ferret-Chinchilla-Ferret-2-level-sturdy-Cage_W0QQitemZ190079765117QQihZ009QQcategoryZ46307QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
If you do a Google search for UK pages I'm sure you'll find other prices too.
I live in London and aspire to own a FN cage one day....!

Gorgeous decorations, by the way, everyone!

[Dori]

Question -- in the last photo, what is the shelving/double decker thing on the right? I saw it in SoA's pic too. What is it, where did you get it, etc.

-Melina

It is stackable shelving from walmart. I have it in my own cage. It comes in different sizes in the kitchen dept of walmart.

[Scubbs]

I forgot that I got mine at Kmart instead of Walmart    What I got can be found here.  I honestly don't like them very much and ended up taking out one 

[Kiwi_and_Mango]

I am in love with all of your FN's
I want one so MUCH! But I live in the UK 
I'll have to make do with the pics...So keep posting them so I can envy you and wish I had one

You can get them in the UK, but they are NOT CHEAP!
Here's one on ebay for £185:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rat-Ferret-Chinchilla-Ferret-2-level-sturdy-Cage_W0QQitemZ190079765117QQihZ009QQcategoryZ46307QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
If you do a Google search for UK pages I'm sure you'll find other prices too.
I live in London and aspire to own a FN cage one day....!

Gorgeous decorations, by the way, everyone!

Heeey! I could afford that! I think...Ill have a talk with my mum  Thanks for that 
Thing is....At the moment...I only have one rat  I know, its bad, but he is (slowly) getting better from a respirotory infection and we don't want to introduce yet, till he is better

[DolciLady]

I forgot that I got mine at Kmart instead of Walmart    What I got can be found here.  I honestly don't like them very much and ended up taking out one 

SoA, what don't you like about that shelving thingy?

Robin

[fuzzybee]

I am in love with all of your FN's
I want one so MUCH! But I live in the UK 
I'll have to make do with the pics...So keep posting them so I can envy you and wish I had one

You can get them in the UK, but they are NOT CHEAP!
Here's one on ebay for £185:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rat-Ferret-Chinchilla-Ferret-2-level-sturdy-Cage_W0QQitemZ190079765117QQihZ009QQcategoryZ46307QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
If you do a Google search for UK pages I'm sure you'll find other prices too.
I live in London and aspire to own a FN cage one day....!

Gorgeous decorations, by the way, everyone!

Heeey! I could afford that! I think...Ill have a talk with my mum  Thanks for that 
Thing is....At the moment...I only have one rat  I know, its bad, but he is (slowly) getting better from a respirotory infection and we don't want to introduce yet, till he is better

Since all I can afford at the moment is to live vicariously, I've found one a bit cheaper, the price includes postage. 
http://www.redmap.co.uk/ferretsabout/acatalog/Ferret_Nation.html
Even a lone ratty can never have too much space, and think what fun you can have filling it with friends for him when he's better...

[Kiwi_and_Mango]

Aww fuzzybee thats great, one day I will end up getting a FN from that website  I could just about afford the actual cage right now, but i'd want to buy loads of new stuff to furnish it with like fabric for the bottoms and new hammock fabric and stuff. Im 14 so it will take me a while to get enough money, heh, and I get quite a lot of pocket money every week as it is so its not really fair to ask for more  And when I get one I will be taking a lotta tips from here thanks to you lot!

[tara7884]

Mine just came yesterday. It's pretty sparse compared to everyones. You guys gave me some good ideas. I can't wait till my two boys are old enough to go in it. They are about 8 weeks old now. Thanks everyone for sharing your great ideas.

[Scubbs]

I forgot that I got mine at Kmart instead of Walmart    What I got can be found here.  I honestly don't like them very much and ended up taking out one 

SoA, what don't you like about that shelving thingy?

Robin

They're too small to put anything good on    The only thing they're good for are soda boxes.  They took up too much space considering the fact that don't hold a whole lot.

[Dori]

Mine just came yesterday. It's pretty sparse compared to everyones. You guys gave me some good ideas. I can't wait till my two boys are old enough to go in it. They are about 8 weeks old now. Thanks everyone for sharing your great ideas.

It looks great the way you have it all color coordinated! Your two boys will love all that room to run around in!

[jorats]

Wow, I love the paw print design, looks great, I also like the idea of making the fleece/cloth go all the way down from the second level, looks very sharp!

[tara7884]

Thanks for the compliments I credit my cage to all the wonderful ideas I got off this site!! And I love my FN cage so thanks for that too! ( As a new rat owner, I had no idea where to start in making them a comfy home.)

[jorats]

Another cleaning day and more pics. Still love my FN... cleaning it is just so easy.



The bottom part with the wonderful wonderrodent palace!!



And a pic of my sweet Bijou in a wonderrodent cube!!

[wonderrodent]

YAY!!!!
So how long does it take you to clean the FN?

[jorats]

So how long does it take you to clean the FN?

Right now, it's taking me about an hour but that's because I'm having so much fun decorating and trying new stuff, changing stuff around. But eventually, it should take me about 30 minutes for the big once a week scrub down. Keep in mind, I do daily clean ups and I also only have 7 rats in there right now. I'm sure if I had the 12 allowed, then it would be a little more.

[DolciLady]

Yeah, it's not the actual clean-up that takes long, it's the redecorating!!     It takes longer to wash the igloos and toys than it does to sweep and scrub the trays, shelves, and ladders. 

Robin