Once you have a suitable ferret cage the next important thing is furnishing it. There are lots of options, all with different pros and cons. Some are better inside or outside but you can adapt all cages to use whichever suits you best and of course you can even adapt or use these for ferret sheds and ferret proofed rooms. You can use a few of these options at once to help protect your housing.
Please note toys, and in some cases hammocks and ladders have been removed to make the flooring more visible. Please make sure you provide boredom breakers, my recommendations would be hammocks, tunnels, balls and and small animal toys such as rattlers and teasers
First and foremost consider your litter tray. Litter trays Must be easily accessed and comfortable to use. If you have a ferret who does not reliably use a litter tray for whatever reason you might be better off looking at a deep litter base so you can spot clean it as needed. With litter training accessibility when they need the toilet is paramount so you may wish to consider trays on multiple levels and a tray per ferret
What to avoid;
Wire floors
Dusty bedding and substrate
Wire floors can be used but they are not comfortable for most ferrets and can be dangerous. One of our cats once got a toe caught on a surface very similar to a mesh floor and it resulted in a broken bone and a lucky avoidance of amputation. All that said our jill cage has a mesh floor on the bottom level. What makes this safe is that it is covered with a layer of artificial grass preventing them from walking directly onto the wire. Please note this is specific to floored enclosures, a layer of mesh or chicken wire in the bottom of a run is a great way to avoid escapees.
Dusty bedding and substrates can be very dangerous to your pet’s respiratory system. You will find these days most small animal bedding has “dust extracted” printed on the packaging somewhere. The exception to this is sawdust which is very fine wood curls like those produced when you use a saw. This is not really appropriate for any small animal due to the risks of dust. Wood shavings, hay, chopped straw and aspen beddings are all-natural substrates and beddings you can buy dust extracted which are safe for ferrets. They do not chew hay like rabbits, but they often do like to build nests. Other options for substrates include things like back2nature, a soft pellet litter, and products like carefresh. We have a bag of back2nature to make deep litter base and wean onto a tray when we bring a new ferret home
Cage set up options;
Litter tray and (soft bedding/lino/paint)
Puppy pad and (soft bedding/lino/paint)
Deep substrate cage
Deep substrate is the most old-fashioned cage set up type. It is easy to do, requires little to no training and can be a lot of fun but is messy. Basically, you just cover the whole bottom of the cage in one or two substrates or litters. Used alongside soft bedding this can a bit of a nightmare because it sticks to fabrics. Ferrets also enjoy digging and burrowing in deep bedding so it can also be messy because it is flung about and out of the enclosure. In sheds and rooms you may also want to consider how much it will be tracked through the house/garden. This option is generally only valid on the bottom level of multi level cages. Despite this being the classic set up it has went out of fashion these days, mainly I expect due to the messiness and the move towards more fleece beds being used, most ferret breeder still use this set up for very young kits though as the substrate gives them a good texture to crawl through and accidents don’t really matter because the litter keeps everything clean.
The example is from our guinea pig cage
Since most indoor cages used for ferrets are on multiple levels deep substrate isn’t very functional so it is not common in indoor cages. The exception being the style above which is more common for other small pets. Outside a lot of people do still opt for this particularly in shed set ups
Puppy pads are an alternative to litter trays and the options in the rest of the cage set up are the same to that of a litter tray. I am not a fan of puppy pads for ferrets. My experiences always involve them being scratched at, crumpled up or stashed. My ferrets have always considered them more a toy than a toilet.
Most litter tray training is won or lost based on your choice of tray, its accessibility and position, and the litter used. Please check on our section on litter training for our advice on that. The main downside to litter training is that ferrets can be frustrating. They like to dig in litter, they like to sleep in litter trays, and they enjoy rearranging their hutches which can result in spilled trays. You may wish to consider this when deciding which option to go with on the rest of the floor. If you cannot secure the tray properly or cannot find one that meets your needs one option we have made use of is building in litter trays and then treating the wood so it cannot be soiled. This has worked great for us inside our enclosures.
Soft bedding and a tray can be fleece liners, vet bedding or whatever you wish. It is a nice option for a bed section. The main con is they can rearrange it, dump litter on the soft bedding or put it in the litter tray.
Example is from one of our small enclosures
This is a really good option for a lot of indoor cages with wire shelf's and ladders. On such cages the wire floors can usually be removed but the ladders and shelf's are not easily replaced. A lot of hammock makers can do fleece covers for these areas, but you do tend to need to ask them and provide dimensions to get a quote. These covers are enough to stop their claws and toes getting caught between the bars making them safe.
Lino or cushion floor is a great option for most people. You can do it fairly cheaply with off cuts and since it can be kept really clean it is ideal for feeding areas and keeping everything smelling fresh. It’s advised to put it up the walls a little to prevent anything getting behind the lino. The main con of this kind of flooring is that they can and do scratch it and have been well known to dig it up.
After a lot of thought the option we have went with is painting. Most people opt for shades paint by Cuprinol but for floors, litter trays and a ways up the wall we prefer garage floor paint because it cleans easily and does not stain with the oils from their coats. It can be very expensive, and needs redone regularly but is the most permanent and hard wearing option. It is also very flexible since we can clean it like lino, put liners or vet bed on top or even set a deep litter layer over it if we wish.
Paint and litter trays in mid level is from our jill enclosure
This is very similar functionally to solid plastic levels in some indoor cages and comes with the same need to litter train.
Mixed substrate, litter trays and vet bed all on paint is from our hob enclosure
Indoor cages, tending to have open sides and specifically plastic or wire levels, can be less flexible for options but you can make walls from Perspex or wood if you are crafty enough or replace shelf's and ladders with wood or metal shelf's or trays, and make solid ladders or change them for tubes or fabric ladders, just make sure they’re not slippery. The other concern with these is durability, remember ferrets can be destructive. Be aware of how easily damaged the material chosen is and be prepared to remove it if damaged.
above is an example of mixed substrates from our boys enclosure. You can see vetbed, a litter tray, and deep substrate in the bedding box for them to nest in. There's also a scratching post visible
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