Ferrets have so many toys they love, yet, they can get bored easily. Due to that, I try to surprise my Frida and Yoda every few months with one special toy I make for them (a little DIY project). A ferret is the type of animal who loves to interact with other animals and people. So, to make them happy and satisfied we have to stimulate their mind with games and toys. I love doing DIY projects so this isn’t just fun for them, it is also a lot of fun for me.
I’ve made a few toys and most of them are closely connected to ferrets. The last one I did was a rice box because ferrets love to dig and rice is safe for them. Also, I made fabric toys you can hang somewhere because I know that ferrets love toys they need to chase – after all they are hunters. And now, I will make a playground where ferrets can investigate, hide, and run through tunnels. Ferrets love tunnels and dark places and that is exactly what I want to achieve with this awesome fortress. It is a big playground so I know ferrets will love it and investigate many days. This DIY project is on my mind for a few months and now I am finally able to do it.
For this DIY project, I have been collecting boxes for months. I want to make a fortress, actually, four towers surrounded by walls. This won’t be just any fortress, it will be a ferretastick fortress and the best playground there is. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this!
The fortress will have a basic square shape, nothing too complicated. I will connect Four towers with four tunnels attached to the walls. Every tower will have an exit and a few windows so the light can come inside the towers.
Before I start talking about the fortress, let me show you what I need from the equipment.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
For this awesome project I need:
Many cardboard boxes
Craft knife
Measuring tape
Scissors
Tape
2 Ferrets
The fortress is made of two main parts – towers and walls. First, I made towers and then I measured the distance between the towers and made walls around them. I wanted to make a big playground, but not too big, after all, I have to use my room every day.
My little DIY project is described here:
1.TOWERS
My first step was to make towers and I decided to use 4 boxes 40cm x 40cm base and 60 cm high. I cut one side of the cardboard (that is the bottom) and used that to make a fence on the top of the tower. I wanted to make the most out of every tower so I’ve used the inside of the tower as well. So, I made ramps and floors so they can climb on the top of the tower from the inside.
INSIDE OF THE TOWER
- On the first and second towers, I have put smaller boxes inside so ferrets can climb their way to the top. Since the tower is 60 cm high, I used 3 boxes in different sizes one next to the other in the first tower. On the second tower, I used 4 boxes, but 2 of them are very small and 2 are bigger. In that tower, I used two boxes (one next to the other), and then I used 2 small boxes on the top of the biggest box to make little stairs.
- The third is a little different. I had really thick cardboard in the shape of an L, so I used it in this tower. With the help of this L profile and a cardboard 10 cm wide, I made them a ramp so they can run to the top of the tower.
- The fourth tower is the most complicated one because I have made floors in the tower. They can jump from one floor to another through the holes in the cardboard. To strengthen the cardboard floors I used the same L profile cardboard as I used in the third tower. Also, every tower has at least 2 entrances, one at the bottom and one at the top.
Here you can see the tower number 3, number 2 and number 4. The first tower I forgot to take pictures of, but you can see the inside in my video below the article.
Now that I have towers, it is time to make walls!
2.WALLS
I had one extremely long box so I used it to make walls around the towers. So, the walls of this fantastic fortress are 90 cm long and 32 cm high with a little decoration at the top. Since my wall is actually only one side of the cardboard box I had to use something more for the wall to be able to stand alone. Due to that, I decided to add something, a connection to the entire fortress. I made tunnels in the bottom of the walls and I connected them to the towers. If Yoda wants to go from one tower to the other, he will have to go through the tunnels. I am sure he won’t mind!
The tunnels are big enough for them to run and for the minimal measure, I used my blue tunnel tube. For you who don’t know, a blue tube is a toy made for ferrets and other small animals and ferrets love it. It is big enough and safe for them. Its diameter is 10 cm. Every tunnel I made is bigger than it so I am sure they won’t get stuck.
The fortress is amazing, it is huge! The entire fortress is 180 cm x 180 cm with 4 amazing towers and 4 awesome tunnels.
During making the fortress Yoda was my main helper (ferrets can only help you, they won’t do anything wrong) but Frida was the first who tested the fortress (Yoda was wandering around the room at the time). I could hear her dook when she started exploring the fortress so I am sure she loves it.
My ferrets approved it and they are playing inside since day 1!
You can also try to make some awesome cardboard playgrounds and share them with us on the Friendly Ferret blog!
