Ferret proofing the couch and making a barrier?
I thought I had ferret proofed my house enough before I got these two Shenanigan Girls, but they proved me sadly mistakened.
I need help to figure out a way to keep them from getting under the couch so they won’t get crushed, and I also need to put up two barriers to keep them in the living room. Some one said regular baby gates or pet gates don’t work, because they climb, and I need to make a plexiglass barrier.
How do I do this? Any help would be great.
I appreciate the tips SO MUCH thus far…
But I just had to mention:
Trying to keep a bunny out of another room vs trying to keep a ferret out of another room is like comparing trying to stop a basket ball vs trying to stop a speeding bullet.
I’ve had LOTS of rabbits before. Babygates do just great for them
Ferrets are notorious escape artists. Mesh doesn’t even work for one of my ferrets:
The lady gave them to me in a cardboard box. They got out of that in the car in 5 mins. So I stopped at petsmart to get them a "ferret proof" duffle bag. This devilish one scratched out the mesh windows in that in about 30 mins and we road the rest of the way home with her under my foot.
Yesterday she got stuck in a crack between the door and the floor trying to get into a bedroom and freaked me out so bad that I’m afraid to let them out of their cages now.
Yeah…..babygates have to large spaces, and the evil woman is impervious to mesh.
Thanks so far for the rest!
I’m sorry for being so sketchy today with my details, just a teeny bit more clarification:
The lady that gave them to me wasn’t keeping them in a cardboard box. On the contrary, she also gave me a gigantic ferret nation cage, litter, food, lots of toys and lots of goodies to go with them.
The only thing she didn’t have was a carrying cage, and we had to break their cage down to get it into the car.
Thus the adventure.
But, yes, I will DEFINITELY invest in plastic pet taxi for future transports to the vet and so forth…
I don’t really mind if they get up on the top in the cushions. At least, if they did that, the cushions would have to be misplaced, and I could tell they were there before sitting down.
I do understand, though, that eventually I may have to just opt for a futon couch…that will come soon.
(They are not allowed in my bedroom to mess up my expensive bed. Sorry Shenanigan girls, no can do.)
6 Comments on “Ferret proofing the couch and making a barrier?”
That is so ferret like. If you just have a problem with them getting under the couch, just put stack heavy books or another flat object or even, flat plastic totes. I use metal barbecue grates stacked under my refrigerator, that keeps them out and allows the refrigerator to vent. Mine ate holes in my leather couch, OUCH, but it’s done and I can’t worry too much about it now. They just love the den effect and having fun so the next couch will be a futon.
I am not very successful in keeping them contained in my living room because of the shape of the openings, but if you want to make a plexi glass gate, I have some ideas. You can make a temporary gate with velcro and plexi glass. Cut the plexi glass to width size and about three feet tall or however you feel is tall enough. Attach to your wall a strip of velcro and attach the other side to the plexi glass. This is a good temporary gate that works most of the time, until someone figures out they can use their feet to pry it open. If you have a narrow opening and want a more secure fastener, you can use screen railings fastened to the wall and just slip the plexi glass in on the railings.
My kids have free roam so I don’t try to restrict them but I have one female who tries to escape and can pull the doors open with her feet if the door is not secured so I am considering a gate, but just haven’t done it yet.
Hope this works and your little monkeys continue to provide you hours of love and amusement.
Yes, you need to buy a rabbit transporter carrier, they are made out of hard material like a plastic. I can’t remember where I got mine but a feed store usually has them. They look like little dog carriers. My daughter raised rabbits so we used them to transport the rabbits to and from shows. Just a tip, in an emergency you can always use a pillow case over a cardboard box. Poor little babies, I am glad they live with you now.
i assume you have them in a cage most of the time and are looking for advice on when they’re out playing? if your have free-run of the house all the time, then these won’t work for you.
we use a baby gate in the doorway, then put a big thick piece of poster board in front of it to do this:
http://www.geocities.com/PicketFence/2591/
there are times they knock the poster board aside & start climbing the gate…but not very often and we’re right there so we still have time to go over & grab them before they get out of the room. but it would be easy enough to get a regular piece of plexiglass cut to size from a hardware store and do this yourself. just make sure there are no sharp edges for anyone to get cut on. (taping the edges all the way around with a cloth medical tape would work to fix that.
as for the couch, honestly, i’d just suggest not sitting on it while they’re out. it’s the easiest thing to do and what is normally suggested if you have a recliner or rocking chair. these little critters can get just about anywhere they want so proofing a couch may prove to be very very difficult.
We had this problem rabbit proofing our house. For under the sofa we put cardboard around the bottom slightly under the edge and put pillows in front of them so they are flush with the edge of the sofa. This means that the bunny cant get under, but wont get hurt trying, and the sofa still looks nice. For the barriers we brought a baby gate, but the ones with the mesh so they can’t get through the barriers, which is fine for us. But I’ve seen people use these gates and attach a piece of MDF at the top so if they climb up they can’t get over the top and this seems quite effective. Good luck, I hope these work.
Good luck I have the same problems with my guy Marvin! Sneaky little guy! When I blocked my couch the little turd decided to tear it apart instead so good luck.
Couch: They have a small animal play pen (Walmart use to carry them) It’s made for guinea pigs. The height is just right you can put it around the couch (against couch) and hold with heavy book. Doorway, whoever sells glass can cut a piece of plexiglass to fit cheap. When I started taking in fuzzies I got rid of all furniture that would hurt them, such as the couch I now use a futon. Recliners, etc. Oh, they height of the playpen is around 8 – 10 inches, or you can go to a hardware store and buy wire and cut your own. You can also use wood, such as 1X6 and nail it to the couch after staining it, permant solution.
This is yet another reason why my ferrets live in my bedroom. Ferret proofing a couch is nearly impossible. You could literally nail a wood board underneath…but what about them getting in at the top from the cushions? Its impossible. Sadly.
If at all possible keep your ferrets confined to one ferret proofed room. Preferably a room with limited or no furniture. My bedroom works for me and my little guys, however, this is not to say I don’t have problems. My mattress and box-spring has literally been destroyed. I have had to utilize tape, lots of mattress covers, as well as sewing fitted sheets around my bed. Makes me want to cry sometimes. lol
Good luck is all I can say!!!