# My experience with the Ferret Nation cage... (so far!)



## jasugar (Feb 2, 2010)

I purchased a ferret nation cage a couple of days ago for my ratties. I immediately sat down & began to piece it together in my living room floor. While it's very possible to put it together yourself, _it's pretty difficult_. I would recommend having a partner to at least steady the pieces as you're putting it together. None of the pieces were damaged, thank goodness. I would have been heartbroken after 5'4" me worked so hard to get the cage to my car, then into my house, then unpacked, then together.  

I have one fixed female who is still relatively small with two males, so I decided to cover it with hardware cloth just to be safe. *The grating itself is just about 23" tall, so I purchased three of the 24" x 5' hardware cloth rolls and it covered everything with a bit to spare.* After tearing my hands up I finally got it covered. It was much easier to cover than my SuperPet Ferret cage, which required a TON of custom cuts for the doors and bends and MUCH more hardware cloth (and a ton more nicks on my fingers!). 

The ratties love it & I have a feeling it will be much easier to clean than my superpet ferret cage (which was an absolute nightmare to clean. :) The doors are amazing & make it so much easier to get to my ratties, their stuff, and to do inbetween-clean-wiping-down. So far I love it & am pleased with my purchase.


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## littlemissgogo (Jun 3, 2011)

Sounds troublesome, but definitely worth it! I'm glad it worked out.


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## jasugar (Feb 2, 2010)

Skye said:


> How are you liking the FN? I get mine next week, and it may already be assembled!


I'm liking it a lot! If it's already assembled it'll save you 90% of the work. The store I got it from had one already assembled... but I don't have room in my car for something that big! All I have to do daily to keep it clean is take a damp cloth and wipe down the pan and level. I use fleece on the level and fleece + a towel on the bottom. I worried that since I couldn't use bedding it'd smell, but it hasn't been too bad. If it smells, it'd probably be okay to dilute some vinegar and wipe down the pan & levels with that. I loooove the big doors. They're a lifesaver.


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## Misbehavior (May 29, 2011)

Those big doors sound like heaven. c: My SP Deluxe has these teeny doors that are too small for even the wheel that came with it to go through! Cleaning's not a nightmare, but you really have to get into some nifty positions to reach some parts.


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## jasugar (Feb 2, 2010)

Ooooh, cleaning is so easy with the FN. I just take out the bottom tray, take out the plastic insert, take off the old fleece/towels, wipe it all down, recover with clean linens  then put them back in! It takes all of 10 minutes on a good day.


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## wheeljack (Mar 17, 2011)

I have 4 FN's and have them sometimes setup as triples and sometimes as double-wides. I found them much easier to put together than the CN's. I can get a 142 put together in under 15 by myself and I am not a big person, it's easier once you figure out how everything fits together.

It's good practice to take the entire thing apart periodically, remove the mesh and give everything a through cleaning. Pee and crumbs can get between the panels over time (although not as bad as on a CN) and the mesh traps debris between it and the cage bars.

Glad you are enjoying it, FN are my favorite cages for rats.


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