Nest Boxes

[lorelei0922 2]

Hi there everyone..

 

i'm a big fan of recycling and making new uses out of old stuff.. and hey who wants to spend a fortune on stuff that the ferrets are gonna tear up .. or get dirty when something recycled could do the job just as well...

 

Soo... last year when my jill had her kits she had an old large bread box (perfect size and .50 at a carboot) with a hole cut in the side as an entrance... she raised her litter just fine but the kits were climbing out of the nest at 3 weeks old as the lip of the hole.. was flush with the bottom... this very loud kits constantly being rescued and dumped back into the nest...

 

my question is this... this year i'm planning on using a small cabinet (found the same way) on its side again with a hole cut in an appropriate place to allow access... should i put the hole a bit higher? will it matter to the kits developement? at what size/age should they be venturing from the nest?

 

I dont want to put the hole too high and have the lil guys stuck in there and not gettin their exersize lol

 

thanks in advance...

[Leeview 791]

I'd place the hole as high as possible and place a brick below it to assist the jill when entering, kits are usually leaving the nest box by 4 weeks but the jill will be trying to get them back into the nest box long after they're independant of her

Y.I.S Leeview

[jazz_11 5]

the cage i got with my hob n jill didnt have a nest box as they were kept in a garage so it was always warm...

after i waterproofed the cage i bought a ferret box from the local hunting shop, nothing special but quite small as its for a small hob and small jill i put that in the corner of their cage and wedged a piece of wood in between that and a piece of wood from the cage. i didnt want to nail it in because i wanted to be able to take it out and put new bedding and all in..

the box only cost me a tenner and i cut a circle in the front where the holes are and filled it with bedding.. works perfect and was cheap and easy to do..

its out of the way of draughts and keeps them warm.. which is the main think... i was pleased with it...

the hole isnt very high but high enough for kits so when i do come round to mating her they wont be climbing in and out..

Edited January 14, 2009 by jazz_11

[The one 8,536]

Ive cut the holes for my nest boxes on the high side with a brick outside them to help the ferrets out and in but kitts will all pile out when they smell the food so i started putting the gutted rabbits in the nest boxes and the kitts didn't venture out till 4/5 weeks .But you need access to clean out there scats

[victor 10]

at 4 weeks mine started eating my jill's dinner, that hardly opened their eyes but were taking a shit out side. so 4 weeks seems to be the magic number

[lorelei0922 2]

so the consensus is high enough to keep them in till about 4 weeks ish then... might make things easier for the jill if they cant escape before then i'd think...