Custom animal cages built / white chipmunks FOR SALE! (VA.)

[Tactical_@dvantage]

Anyone who is in the need of custom small animal enclosures from Ferrets to Sugar Gliders, Chipmunks, Squirrels, Chinchillas, Iguanas, birds and so on.........

I'm an avid animal lover who switched from high end Honduran Milksnakes (had 11 at one time) to small fuzzy animals. I build custom cages as part of that hobby because I couldn't find anyone that has a ready made or store bought cage that met the requirements of the Chipmunks that we keep. I'm sure that many of you have tried to make do with aquariums and other tanks that just are not made for animals that require a lot of space or height to climb and move about.

Check out my feeble website for more information, I kind of threw it together this weekend and will update it as time allows. For now it's the basics, you get the general idea. While your there please sign my guestbook and leave suggestions about the cages or the site. I'm just a hobbiest having fun with the animals I keep and the handywork I am able to do.

Thanks for the read!

Got Chippies Home Page

[Tactical_@dvantage]

Actually this was supposed to go in the trading post, and for some reason ended up here in the XD45ACP room. Could a MOD please move it for me, sorry.

[Corey G]

Nice cages, Just an FYI for ferrets you do not want to use wood or any meash that is not plastic coated.

[Tactical_@dvantage]

Originally Posted by Corey G

Nice cages, Just an FYI for ferrets you do not want to use wood or any meash that is not plastic coated.

Thanks for the comments. As far as "plastic Coated", your ferrett will at some point start chewing on it and it can either poison your pet, or cause gastrointestinal blockages. The main thing for them is the floor and ramps need to be covered, in my case using 5/8 inch melamine coated wood. Melamine is an ultra hard plastic-like coating that protects the wood from both moisture and biting or scratching. Only the sides and top are heavy duty screened, not the bottom.

An excerpt from http://www.everythingferret.com/housing_your_ferret.htm:

Your ferret should always have a large, clean, comfortable, ferret specific cage or "kitty condo" type cage available to keep him or her safe when you are not at home or in the event of an illness or emergency. Ferrets should be caged or kept in a "ferret proofed" area of your home when you are not home to supervise them and at night when you are asleep. They should be kept indoors in a temperature controlled environment if outdoor temperatures are hotter than 80 degrees F and colder than 45 degrees F. Ferrets should never be housed in a glass fish aquarium due to lack of air circulation and moisture buildup on the glass bottom. This excess moisture can lead to bacterial and fungal infections on the skin and in the lungs (can lead to death).


Fortunately, there are a variety of fun ferret cages to choose from . You can spend any where from seventy-five to one thousand dollars on a ferret cage. My advice is to start with a multilevel cage that has "easy cleaning" features. I own two ferret cages - one with a plastic bottom and coated wire that easily lifts out for cleaning, and one with a metal bottom that is easy to clean as well. Cages with metal bottoms may have the potential to rust and corrode if exposed to urine, feces or water. However, if you purchase food and water dishes that attach to the cage, litter boxes and throw rugs to cover the bottom of the cage, rust shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If you are purchasing a cage with coated wire, keep an eye on your ferrets to make sure they are not chewing the coating off of the wire. This can lead to a gastrointestinal blockage or poisoning. Also, make sure your ferret cannot fit through the slats of the cage. See Shopping- Ferret Supplies for more examples of ferret homes.

It is important to note that you should never line the bottom of your ferret's cage with cedar or pine chips . Some research has found that Pine and cedar chips contain oils that may be very harmful to your ferret's respiratory system (and liver). You will often see ferrets housed in a large aquarium with cedar chips in the pet store. Please be aware that this is wrong and you should not house your ferret in that fashion.Rather, use a ferret specific cage and cover the bottom of the cage and any wire mesh with a throw rug or soft (and durable) pieces of fabric . Ferrets should not walk on wire grating alone. Put a corner litter pan on one side of the cage and food and water on the opposite side of the cage. This will encourage them to use the litter pans. Ferrets will generally not use the bathroom around their food.



Your ferret will also need soft places to sleep and hide (the more the better- dark places to hide are necessary for good ferret mental health). You should also cover the outside of the top (or sleeping level) of the cage with a sheet or blanket to make it dark and private. Good choices for sleeping materials are ferret hammocks or sleep sacks that hang from the cage. You can also put durable fabric on the different levels of the cage. My ferrets love to curl up in my old sweat shirts. I pull the arms of the sweat shirt through the slats of the cage and tie them together outside of the cage. This keeps the shirt stationary. Then, I put an old tee-shirt inside of the sweat shirt to add more padding. Ferrets love to crawl inside soft materials. Always opt for tougher fabrics. Some ferrets may chew on fabric and can get blockages if they swallow pieces of material. Keep an eye on your ferret and make sure his or her bedding is not being chewed or is missing pieces (if they are, remove them right away). Ferrets should not be walking on wire grating or wire mesh alone. Be sure to cover the bottom of the cage and any wire mesh levels with throw rugs, fabric, old clothes or pieces of tough vinyl (such as pieces of vinyl flooring).

[Jon Smykal]

I just bought a new cage for my ferret on sunday. I wish I had known you were making custom ones!

I got her when she was young, and she had a little 2ft high, by 3ft long, by 2ft deep cage, one level.

Now she's 1.5yr old, so I splurged, and spent over 200$. Now she has a 4 level, 5ft high x 3ft x 3ft cage. The thing has crazy hammocks, and tubes, and slides. I've never seen her so happy as she's been in the last three days. She's also calmed down a lot (she was very micheivious and wild), now she wants to sit on my lap. She still steals my car keys if I let her out and leave them on the bed.

[Tactical_@dvantage]

Jon,

I can still build ya one!

[billbrasky]

since there appears to be some knowledgeable ferret folks here .... i used to know a guy at my church that had them when i was in elementry school, his stunk though. Do all ferrets stink like that, or was it just those particular critters, like they were poorly washed, or infrequent (they seems nicely caredf for but i was in about 5th grade ..... definately not abused so dont get worried)

What keeps them from stinking to badly ?

[Corey G]

Thats a very loaded questions, ferrets have a natural musk and since people may not be used to that smell they say they stink, I think my dog stinks twice as bad as my feerets, but labs do liek to play in teh mud puddles. Ferrets have sacks that allow them to spray much like a skunk as a defence. Now that they are more mianstream pets, these sacks are removed when they are fixed. Ferrets also need open air type cages when keept as pets, as ferrets are very active and then very sleepy, they use the bathroom a great deal, as the food they eat stays in thier sytem for a total of 3 hours, they have a very high matablism, and a temp between 103 and 105. They are conivors and are know to take down much larger game then themselves, they often hunt in groups, they can lock thier jaws and bite threw bone. They can swin as well as burrow. Often a mistake people make is bath them too much, cuaseing thier glands to replesh the oils in thier skin and as such they smell more. I can keep going I used to breed ferrets and still keep quite a few.

[Tactical_@dvantage]

Originally Posted by billbrasky

since there appears to be some knowledgeable ferret folks here .... i used to know a guy at my church that had them when i was in elementry school, his stunk though. Do all ferrets stink like that, or was it just those particular critters, like they were poorly washed, or infrequent (they seems nicely caredf for but i was in about 5th grade ..... definately not abused so dont get worried)

What keeps them from stinking to badly ?

That would more than likely be poor housekeeping (cleaning up after them). Also, as Corey stated they have scent glands, but now about the only way to get ferrets legally is spayed/neutered (fixed) and de-scented (glands removed).

You have to keep in mind that owning an animal is a huge responsibility, and ask yourself are you willing to do what it takes to keep it happy and healthy.

[Tactical_@dvantage]

TGIF!

New photos page added with a few pics of the adults. Stop by and sign the guestbook while your browsing!