Review by Julia:

I did quite a bit of research and shopping around for a home for my 2 rats, and I might add that I am a first time rat owner. I read books, looked on the internet, and shopped at pet stores near my home to see them in person. I highly recommend this cage for rats. It offers them plenty of space to run around and they love the levels. It is really neat looking too and encourages me to keep it clean (dailty cleaning) as I love the look and design of it. Originally I was concerned about the spacing of the bars, but my rats are only half grown and the bars are close enough that they cannot escape. As with other cages with the plastic shelves, you might find that they are urinating on the shelves which can be messy if they walk through it. I have found that if I add more bowls, toys, boxes, etc. to the shelves that they will more likely use the bottom part where the litter is. I keep a bottle of Nature’s Miracle nearby for daily wiping up, another product I’d recommend as it’s safe for use around pets.

Review by John Smith:

I was really disappointed with this.

The Good:

– only took about 20 minutes to put together, all the tools you need are included

– good size, small footprint

– very good door placement, all the spots are easy to reach

– easy to remove cage part for cleaning the bottom

– you don’t need them, but the instructions are very clear

– looks like it’d be fun if it worked

– the solid bottom with deep sides is an excellent design for cleaning, you can’t really appreciate this until you’ve tried anything else

The Bad:

– super-cheap plastic, my ramp was broken in the box

– maybe okay for rats, but all the holes were almost too small for my baby ferrets to get through (they’re chubby but not THAT chubby)

– my ferrets might be dumber than most, but they couldn’t figure out how to use the tunnel or spiral stairs, i think mostly because the turns were too sharp and the passage too narrow. they resorted to climbing the cage wall to get to the next level

– with the cheap plastic, the ramps/tubes/spiral are not sturdy, they shook horribly, even with my tinniest ferret, this made them very nervous and reluctant to even try using them (the fastening mechanisms were fine though, i don’t think there was actually any chance of the ramp/tube/spiral actually falling)

– the cage just sits on the wheels, i feel like if there were little kids around they could easily accidentally knock the whole cage over

– my ferrets could open the doors, i had to adjust the latches myself with pliers

– again with the cheap plastic – the cage fastens to the plastic bottom with 2 small plastic fasteners, which are on the verge of breaking after only taking them off twice (you’ll probably want to take them off weekly to clean the cage)

– the deep sides on the bottom make it hard for things that latch to the cage bars to reach the floor – litter box / water bottles / food dish were all too high off the ground

Conclusion:

as it is, it’s unusable (for ferrets). i scrapped mine for pieces to build a new cage myself

Review by Leah A. Watkins:

I shopped local pet shops and this size of cage was 100.00 or higher. It is a roomy cage and the cost was much cheaper. It was well packed for shipping, but one corner was bent when it arrived. Overall I am satisfied with my purchase and so are my rats!

Review by Jem28:

This Multi-Floor cage is large enough for my rabbit to jump and play. She loves it! It’s absolutely worth buying and easy to assemble.

Review by UCSCUCLA:

I am very impressed with my Midwest Ferret Nation Single-Level cage. It’s very heavy duty and extremely easy to clean. I’ve got one ferret and there is plenty of space for her to play, sleep, eat, and use her litter pan…

I got this cage because I thought it would blend into my homes’ decor and I was right. It has a green/black tint to it and looks very nice on my wood floors.

I’d reccomend this cage to anyone looking for a decent sized home that is easy to clean for their ferrets!

Review by J. Greenleaf:

I use this cage for my buns. They love it and so do I! It is so easy to keep clean, and with the nice wide open doors they can go in and out easily for play time! I haven’t found a single negative yet for use with buns, and we’ve used this cage for many months now.

Review by kamen-dayo:

This cage actually makes it fun to own a rabbit. I’m not a rabbit owner, but my sister and her daughter are. For about two years, they had one solitary rabbit in a small, one level cage. All he ever did was sit there, move a little bit to the left, sometimes to the right, ate food, got rid of the eaten food –you get the idea. He would hop around when they let him out occasionally. But when he was back in the cage, it basically sat there. Can’t say I blamed him, poor guy in that little cage.

Then one day my sister and my niece bring home another rabbit –a baby bunny. Cute, and luckily, it got along with the 2 year old rabbit, which was fortunate for us since my sister’s plan was to put them in the same. Small. Cage.

Well seeing they got along well and groomed each other (I meant the rabbits not my sister and her daughter) I, on a mission of mercy, set out to find them a larger cage. We found this one on Amazon with no reviews. It was multi floored and extra large.. I figured they would enjoy that much more than the small cage they were crammed into now.

I got it, and set it up differently than in the pictures to allow for the size of the rabbits and they loved it. They ran around, went all the way to the top (after a few hours of getting over the shock of actually being able to move around) they snuggled and groomed each other (again the rabbits I’m talking about) and they’re happier than I have ever seen them.

In the morning and at night, we all like to check up on them and see what level shelf they’re on and if they’ve found the treat placed for them on the very top level (they did) Since they’re so active now, they’re actually a lot of fun to watch them do their thing –I like to think of it as an Antfarm .. except for Rabbits…

Now as for how I set the cage up, I did this: One food shelf on the bottom (the picture shows two on the bottom) , two normal shelves placed next to each other in the middle level (to make an extra large platform for both of them to relax on,) and the last food shelf as a top level (with treats on it to entice them to make the perilous journey to the top –it’s not dangerous they’re fine). With ramps connecting all the shelves together. I’ll see if I can upload a pic later.

It works really great, and believe it or not, when we open the front cage door, they’re not itching to get out. Sometimes they’re content to just sit there and luxuriate in their new spacious, plastic accommodations. What a life.

My niece even said she wished she was a rabbit so she could enjoy the cage along with them. -Now that’s one fine rabbit dwelling.

Review by JudithM46:

I purchased my Ferret Nation 143 and it was an excellent buy, my husband and I attached the add on to our 141 in under 10 minutes, all the parts were there and the directions were easy to follow. The add on 143, like the 141 is extreemly easy to maintain. I see cages made of much lighter materials selling for equal to greater $$. The 143 makes the total cage very roomy, making it a great addition for multi-ferret households.

Excellent value and quality.

Review by Gail:

This is by far the greatest Ferret cage you can buy! But Please reconsider if you have a Chinchilla or rat!!

I wish Ferret Nation would consider a cage specifically for Chinchillas and Rats. I have both and thought I’d get this cage for them- the rats slipped right through the bars. I’m waiting on the Chins, but after I bought this (of course) I read that the bars should only be 1″x1/2″ apart as they bounce off the walls and may break their legs with larger gaps. Now I have to reinforce this cage. Chins and Rats also chew plastic, which I knew; I plan to replace the pans with galvanized pans (which would be nice if Ferret Nation offered those too)!

FERRET NATION- IF YOU’RE READING THIS- PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A CHIN/RAT CAGE/PARTS THAT IS JUST AS GREAT AS YOUR FERRET CAGE!!!

Review by iTy:

This cage is a pretty good cage for ferrets. It’s easy to clean and has plenty of room for my silver ferret to play in (although most of the time he just sleeps in his bed or hammock). However, I suggest that you keep looking for ferret cages. Ferrets do not do well on wire floors. Their feet and joints have evolved to walk on solid surfaces, not wire. Young ferrets will be fine, but older ferrets will start to have foot and leg problems if they are constantly walking around on wire. However, this is an easy fix. I put some spare linoleum that I had on the bottom level so he had a solid surface to walk on. I left the top like it was because Harley doesn’t go up there much unless it’s to lay in his hammock. However, this creates a new problem. Now the cleaning feature has been removed. The little tray on the bottom that catches all the excrement is now covered with linoleum rendering it useless. Now you have to revert to the tried and true way of litter training, putting a pan in one of the corners and getting your ferret to use that. It took my ferret a while to get used to it but he uses it almost everytime now. After all of these changes I had to make, it’s not a bad cage, but there are cages available that are much much better.

Also, the ramps are rather slick and Harley has a hard time climbing them sometimes. Also the ramps are just barely long enough to reach where they need to go. Harley has also knocked the ramps over several times. Also the shelves attach to the doors (the only way you can put the on there). This keeps you from being able to open the cage completely. You can only open 2 of the 4 doors without having to take down all the shelves and ramps.

Pros:

Big and spacious

Gets the job done

Secure doors

Wheels make it easily movable

Cons:

Not really designed with ferret’s anatomy in mind

Needed changes leaves the bottom tray rather useless

Bottom tray is prone to cracking which makes moving it rather difficult

Shelves have to attach to the doors which leave 2 doors un-openable

Ramps are slick and barely long enough to reach

Ferrets can easily knock ramps off

All in all it will get the job done…but there are better ferret cages out there for the money

Review by G.T.:

This is an awesome cage for the money. Despite what you may read on other sites this cage very easy to assemble if, you pay attention to the pieces. There truly is only one way to connect them correctly, as there are no universal holes drilled in any side. A bottom is clearly a bottom and a side is clearly a side. This does not mean you CANNOT put the top section side panel on the bottom, but it will be obvious because there will be no hole on top. As far as the construction, it is sturdy and has stood up to a year of feisty ferret abuse. The baked on enamel coating has not chipped and there is no rust forming anywhere. The clip that holds the tray will work its way loose if you do not keep an eye on it and will fall off. A single screw attaches it so it really is not an issue to put back on. The spacing between the bars is perfect for good footing but too small for entrapment, which is of concern for cages with wire frame floors. All floor seams are solid and overlap so there is no danger of the ferret escaping or being trapped between the side panels. The shelves do not have a positive click to give you the comfort that they are secure but maintain their position well. I recommend a fuzzy floor hammock across the top as this has been a big hit with my sable ferret who has hated every cage but this one. The side mesh seems a bit flimsy across the top due to the limited number of welds but shows no sign of buckling or fractures so no issue there. One note is the door locking mechanism does not have a positive locking feature by default. You must engage the latch and slide it to the left to prevent the handle from being raised. If you do not engage this feature then the ferret after close observation will learn that all he has to do is pull up on the “shiny thing” that of course, he is interested in and it is party time. In addition, the top level can be sealed off with an included panel to allow two individual domiciles for either another ferret or a play area. There is plenty of space and the wire floor allows and wasted food or litter to fall safely into the tray below. Cedar chip bedding works great as it prevents insect infestation and provides odor suppression without coming in contact with the ferret’s delicate skin. The lower rack works great for bulk food storage and supplies. No negatives just areas that could be improved to have a perfect product. Still gets a five star based upon all the cages I have shopped around prior to purchasing this one. I am very satisfied with it.