Big Expense for Little animal

I thought since I've had this cage for nearly a year I should probably show it off a little.  It was by no means inexpensive to make.  The clean plexyglass was 35 bucks a for a small slab.  The only part of the cage not made with the plexy is the back.  Everything that went into building the cage was expensive, all the pipes, fitting and odds and ends.  You cannot buy this in the store, my dad decided to make it for me.  It took him approx. three months to finish as he had some trouble with the top sliding doors.  He couldn't find an adhesive that held everything in place.  When all was said and done, this is a $500 home for a $5 pet.  You could say they have a mansion.  ; )  It has many features, not all of them listed below but it would be a long blog if I did.  I plan on enlisting my dad's skills when we get three or four ferrets after we sell this house.  I will buy a store cage (around $200) while he decides how he would like to build his own.  That way they can spend one day in one cage and the next in the other.  Ferrets need a great deal of stimulation and every little thing helps.

 

 

To give you an idea of just how big this cage is, that's a 55 gallon aqaurium in the background.  (with the plywood on top... it was their temporary home till this one was finished) And yes, that is our name eteched into the top left door. 

View of the tubes and "rooms."  There are three seperate rooms inside the cage which were in case someone needed some alone time.  They use one room (the one you can't see) for sleeping in and the others they use for eating, one rat in each room.  It cuts down on squabbles.

Top view, this time you can see the sleeping room.  In the corner is where their food goes.  I think there's apples, grapes, carrots and some kind of berry in there now.

This is the fan.  It's original use was for a large CPU.  It's new function, to help circulate air in the cage.  It works great and it's on a timer too so I don't have to go turn it off. 

The lighting system.  It's not on a timer but I generally use it on cold days for a few hours.  It has a bright setting and a dimmer.