Putting together a ferret nation

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greychins

greychins

NWI Chinchillas
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
1,589
Location
Hammond, IN
So... I got a ferret nation cheaply off craigslist, and I asked that it be taken apart because it simply won't fit in my suv put together... so they did. So now that it's taken apart... I'm looking at it, and while it looks simple enough to put together, I'm sure I could find a way to screw it up.

So... I don't have instructions. I'm not sure they're really needed? It looks reasonably self-explanitory. But is there something I should watch out for when putting it together? I feel like I've read on here that it's possible to put the doors on upside-down. How do I tell they're right-side up? Anything else to watch for?

Also, I plan to buy bass pans in the next few weeks... should I wait to put the cage together until I have those pans, or can they be installed in a completed cage without taking the entire cage apart? And how exactly is it that they go in? I seem to remember reading that it's not like they slide in, so... how is it then?

Thanks!!
 
I got the instructions from the Midwest website. You can download the pdf and print it.

They sure are a pain in the rear to put toogether, but worth it.

You can put the cage together without having the pans.
 
The "midwest" logo thingy on the doors goes to the top left. I made that mistake putting it together. The rest is pretty simple: square powder coated support upright, black connector thingy inside it, screw together, other square support on top and screw together. The hardest part that I remember was getting the grates to line up properly inside the little frame pieces. It went quickly with two people and the power drill choked down to about 4, or you could just use a screw driver, but that'll mean more elbow grease. :)
 
Oh and only tighten the screws AFTER everything is in place and you're sure of it. Also, you don't need to make them super tight because, according to my dad, these screws create their own thread (called self-tapping screws) and making them too tight can strip the thread sometimes. Just an FYI since it's used and you might want to make sure it stays in good condition.

The doors, yea, you can't tell what is right side up and it doesn't matter anyways unless you want the company name plate on the upper left to read properly but that doesn't make a difference. The sides you will see which side is up or down based on where the holes for the grids are.

The pan slides in through the open doors after you've assembled the cage, don't worry about it. Post pictures!!
 
Actually, with the doors it does matter whether its right side up or not. If its upside down when you open the doors they will slide off of the pegs and fall off. You want the hinge pegs to be pointing up, not down.
 
The directions that came with our FN insisted that the logo be at opposite corners. My husband kept showing them to me when I told him I was pretty sure the doors were upside down. But, he decided to build it for me to be sweet, and I'll just quietly right it when next we move in a year or so. I've had no problems with the latch since my bottom doors are upside down. They've never slid off or failed to close on me even with a bouncing chin on the shelves. I might be the one in a million upside down working door, though.
 
I didn't realize there would be instructions online, I will check those out.

Thanks everyone!!

caiti said:
The pan slides in through the open doors after you've assembled the cage, don't worry about it. Post pictures!!
Click to expand...

The bass pans?

I will post pics whenever I get it up and set up... I'm making a trip to take stuff to move stuff to the new place this weekend... and the FN is one of the things sitting in my blazer ready to go. I also have one chin pickup and another potential, so I don't know if the FN will get set up, but sooner or later!! I will be joining the Ferret Nation Club! :dance3:
 
I didn't use my directions, and the problem I ran into was putting the bottom and middle pieces in (what the pans sit on). I put it all together and then tried to get those in.. obviously that didn't work :p

Just be sure to get those in AS you're putting the sides together!
 
SusieJJ said:
I didn't use my directions, and the problem I ran into was putting the bottom and middle pieces in (what the pans sit on). I put it all together and then tried to get those in.. obviously that didn't work :p

Just be sure to get those in AS you're putting the sides together!
Click to expand...

Haha will do! Thanks! I could totally see myself doing that... when I was loading the pieces into my blazer, I saw how those two pieces have like those spokes on the end, which fit into the sides... and I immediately had that thought that I will have to make sure I don't think of those at the end! Cause that would totally be like me...

caiti said:
Yep, I ordered a bass pan for my 141. Just open the doors all the way and it slides in.
Click to expand...

Alrighty, sounds good! I swear I had read somewhere that someone had to sort of force the pan in, but who knows what I could be thinking of... lol.
 
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greychins said:
Alrighty, sounds good! I swear I had read somewhere that someone had to sort of force the pan in, but who knows what I could be thinking of... lol.
Click to expand...

Yea, I totally forgot that you do have to tilt it a little to get it in but it was easy enough that I forgot about it, so...Just make sure you don't put every lower ledge in so that you can tilt it a bit to get it in.
 
Chin_Up_Sunshine said:
The directions that came with our FN insisted that the logo be at opposite corners. My husband kept showing them to me when I told him I was pretty sure the doors were upside down. But, he decided to build it for me to be sweet, and I'll just quietly right it when next we move in a year or so. I've had no problems with the latch since my bottom doors are upside down. They've never slid off or failed to close on me even with a bouncing chin on the shelves. I might be the one in a million upside down working door, though.
Click to expand...



I must have missed that!

I do recall the directions saying that the side panels should go on with the openings for the shelves ABOVE the center rung of the cage. :hair:

There are 3 slot positions for the shelf. The middle slot is really close to one of the grey powder coated bars of the panel that run horizontally. The orientation of the panel should be that the grey horizontal bar is below the middle shelf slot opening when looking at it from the inside. It doesn't affect the usability much, other than when using the shelves, the metal bar will be properly hidden by the shelf. It may affect other things, I don't know, but my cage went together just fine the 'wrong' way. I took it apart to make it right.
 
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You mean for the plastic shelves that came with the cage? I do have those, but I intend to make pine shelves for the cage, so getting the original shelves in will be one less worry for me. *thumbs up*
 
Chin_Up_Sunshine said:
The directions that came with our FN insisted that the logo be at opposite corners. My husband kept showing them to me when I told him I was pretty sure the doors were upside down. But, he decided to build it for me to be sweet, and I'll just quietly right it when next we move in a year or so. I've had no problems with the latch since my bottom doors are upside down. They've never slid off or failed to close on me even with a bouncing chin on the shelves. I might be the one in a million upside down working door, though.
Click to expand...

I looked at our cage last night, if you did that, the doors could fall off! They are designed to be lifted off, so putting the logos upside down like that would leave the hinges unsupported.
 
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