koomber

Alright lads, Moved some indoor ferrets outside and got them a nice enclosure, with a hutch for shelter. Since going out we've gotten two problems. 1. They've started pooping everywhere. Not in the hutch, but all over the court. We've tried keeping their toilet boxes clean, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. when they were in the cage we had the same problem and we just covered the areas with fleece blankets which they used as bedding and they soon took the hint, but that's not practical as the court has a large area. Not really sure how to approach this problem. Any su

It worked for us, your milage may vary. We just figured they don't poop where they sleep so we made everywhere that wasn't the toilet a bed. We also limited their space by blocking off some of their cage and taking out shelves, adding them back bit by bit once we were sure they weren't going to turn a new bit of cage into the terlet.

My jills used to be quite messy. Persaverence is the key. Gotta really scrub the poop of the areas where they are pooping that you don't want them too. Keep their corners clean but not immaculate. I think its the smell. If if smells like poop they'll poop there. But the corners needed to be kept kind of clean as any build up and they go somewhere else. We used fleece blankets for their bedding, so we'd stick heaps in their bed so it got a good smell of 'bed' about it, then put them in areas where we didn't want them to go to the toilet.

I'll leave the hutch in there. They've taken right to it too. When they were inside you'd step on the stairs and you could hear them run for the door. Went in this evening and got in the run, changed their toilet, put some food in, opened the door where they were sleeping and they were completely sparko. Gave me an indignant look and sort of poured out of their bed. Best decision I've made sticking them out there. Course, now the wife thinks we need to get more ferrets, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Cheers Guv. We've got some tubes from the old cage. I'll get them sorted tomorrow. Always worth coming here to get tips! Fine Weather for Ferrets:

That's the girls moved in. Stil to stick up the netting but I'll get that done later on. NEed to clean up their old cage and move it to the shed for storage. Gave the frame a coat of paint, green so that if it goes a bit Mossy with being under some trees it won't be obvious Girls seem very happy with their run. Only issue is that they keep climbing on top of the hutch using the mesh and they can't easily get down. We've moved some stuff around so they can get down, but I'll stick a ramp in to make it easier on them.

Cheers man. Been a lot of work. Should really have put the blocks down at the end before the hutch was there. Just getting a coat of green paint the day. And then make sure it doesnt flood from water washing off the base that sticks out and then the girls will be getting moved out.

My wife makes weird squeeking noises whenever the baby does something insuferable (like saying mum). Yon wee blighter made me do something similar.

Going to be a while till I can get some panels sorted out for delivery so going to stick some debris netting like they use on scaffolding up as a temporary meassure. Should have a more rhobust solution in place before the end of the summer and the start of the propper grotty weather.

Cheers man. Never thought about using fencing panels. I guess my mind was focused on shed, so it never occurred to me to think fence! That'll be a fairly cost effective solution to the problem and give them a good bit of protection from the elements.

Something like this?:http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Durable-Acrylic-Sheet-90cmx1-8m/p/210002 How many walls should I be looking at doing?

Well spotted mate, I'm off to get some blocks in the morning to sort that out.

That's the court built now. Couple wee mods to finish it off. Basically just some blocks to go down at one end to fully enclose the base and then a spot of paint and it's done. Once it's ferret proofed and painted the wife will get on with giving it a decorate and shift some of the ferrets toys out to it and we'll get the girls in. Planned for the weekend.

Erm. Right, so I've taken this forums sterling advice and after a long and arduous hunt for about 12 hours a 6'x9' aviary made from 2"x2" wood popped up on Gumtree for less than it would cost me to build one. Got a roof on it too. Very sturdy build too, wire was in good nick and looked to be similar to what I used to build a replacement panel on their cage. Went and had a look at it this evening. Picking it up on Thursday. Pretty confident the girls will have enough space to run around in... I'm not sure how I went from a chicken coop to something bigger than my chuffing shed!

Well, the sister turned up with the hutch today. Seems a good size for something to build off NOTE: This is a picture of the model, but isn't actually my hutch. The only picture I've got of it has the bairn in it and I don't want the Social turning up at my door for child cruelty! It's about 4ft wide, 2ft deep. So I think I'm going to build a ferret court around it for the little blighters. Certainly my wee one seems happy with it. Going to go (as suggested) for something that I can walk in. The Concrete base is 2.6m x 2.6m so should have a fair old size for the 3 girls. T