Customer Reviews

Marshall Small Pet Deluxe Play Pen

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This has been a great pen with a lot of space and very safe. I have owned mine for over a year and it is the only pen that can contain my 3 ferrets. I bought one from a different brand and it only took my ferret Jello 5 minutes to figure out how to escape. This pen will hook up easily and opens easily for cleaning. With all 11 panels hooked up it is large enough for me to sit in and play with my ferrets in, which has been great. It is in my opinion the best set up for ferrets especially for apartment dwellers like myself. I think I had to buy a separate canvas mat to put underneath it which is a must to keep ferrets from digging at carpet/floor. I love this pen and I highly recommend it to all ferret owners that want to keep their ferrets but need a contained environment for them to keep them safe...and to keep their deposits on their apartments :O) This pen is the smartest designed pen I have found on the market. Do not waste your money on any other brand please!

I inherited my late sister's ferrets and although I love animals, I wasn't happy with the usual ferret alternatives: keep them caged up, give them the run of a limited area (which I tried but which promptly became a hygiene nightmare) or give them the run of the house and be careful of treading in ferret poop. For readers who are voluntary ferret parents, I completely understand the appeal and I "get" that I was undereducated, unprepared, not particularly enthusiastic and probably ill-informed about ferret care. But even I could see that the largest big-dog cage available wasn't adequate for such active little guys, but giving them unfettered access to any free space meant signing up for intensive poo-cleaning duties. I tried giving them the run of the house but could never find them when it was time to put them back in the spare bathroom where they ran free. I really struggled with the idea of paying $75 for this collection of wire panels, but it really did solve the problem. I set it up in a tiled, air-conditioned sunroom in about 5 minutes flat - it is absolutely foolproof. The brackets connecting the panels are metal and appear very sturdy. There are plastic latches to connect the last 2 panels into a circle and they might be the first pieces that fail, but they are pretty heavy and could in a pinch be replaced with twist ties or wire. The little guys, who could climb onto a 4" bathroom counter, couldn't climb their way out of this contraption. They seemed to feel more free without a top to cage them in and it was easier for me to step in and give them attention. My cats never jumped inside (it's a pretty tall wall to jump or even step into from the ground) but they could nuzzle and bat through the outside, which the ferrets seemed to enjoy. Luckily, a more ferret-aware friend adopted the two little guys but she still found this to be a useful tool in introducing them to her own ferret, since they could interact without being able to attack each other. I've fostered a number of small animals over the years and would give this an enthusiastic thumbs-up for rodents (are ferrets and gerbils rodents? Anyway, for that sort of animal) and even for small dogs. This product is a little like the anchor - so simple it seems incredible that no one has thought of it before or that one would need to pay for it, but so incredibly effective that it's worth it!

Picked up this playpen for my ferret. I use it as an extension to his cage so that he has room to run around while I am not around. He has never escaped and doesn't seem particularly interested in escaping as it offers a fairly large area for him to do his thing. It unlatches pretty easily and can be expanded by adding more panels. When not in use it folds up pretty neatly as well. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a functional, seemingly ferret proof solution.

I needed someway to keep my 2 ferrets in 1 room. Gates made for kids & dogs couldn't be used because they are not high enough or the spaces between the bars are too wide. I tried this & it's perfect. Used as a gate or a playpen, they can't get out no matter how hard they try & they do!

I looove this. I have it set up in a corner in my living room. I have 2 connected and split down the middle and my 2 bunnies live in it full time. I put there old small cages in the playpens and removed the door so they use it to eat drink and use the litter box but they sleep and excercise in the playpen, They love it there personalities have changed for the better so much since having all this extra room. I love it. Im buying another one for my chinchillas to play and maybe one for my prarie dog to play in! LOVE IT!

This pen culd be good for other animals but NOT FOR FERRETS. My 2 ferrets figured out how to climb out of this pen in 1 minute. Ferrets are master of escaping, they can climb very easily, and this pen is not ferret proof.

This is the second 11 panel pen I've purchased. It has been used for bunnies, puppies and tortoises and under proper supervision this pen has performed exactly the way the manufacture says it will. I even put both 11 panels together for a larger exercise area for small tortoises to roam around. I'm very pleased with this product. I would recommend this to others. Supervision is the key.

I debated on giving this 4 or 5 stars but decided that if someone uses it as intended that its perfect. I bought this product with the intention of using it to create a wall and making my dining room a dedicated play ground. My thought was since the product was expandable then the connections between panels would all be easy to disconnect and reconnect. This is not the case. Besides for the ends, each panel is secured to another and removing panels requires a pliers to expand the link then re-tighten. However, after removing 2 panels and blocking access to the sides, this created a perfect wall to give my ferrets plenty of playroom.

I should also mention that I have two ferrets. Penny is a 1.15lbs female and can get through and into just about anything. Tank is a 3.8lbs male and can knock over or break into just about anything. Neither of them can get through the gate. They used to have free access to the living room but I can't watch them all the time so I decided giving them an all day free play area would be a good idea. I have only used the gate for a few hours and despite their constant attempts to get out to their normal roaming areas, neither has found a way.

Well, ferrets love it for about ten minutes, and then they start probing around the edges looking for an escape route. Fortunately, none of our ferrets have managed to beat the walls of the play pen.

One of the big selling points is the amount of room inside this thing. Three ferrets and two kids can play comfortably in there, with room to spare.

I really wish I had purchased this playpen 6 months ago. It's amazing!

I have four ferrets of varying sizes. All of them are 100% potty trained INSIDE their cage, but when they are out of the cage it's a different story. Also, if you've have ferrets for any length of time, you know the term "ferret proofing" is a total joke. I swear at least one of my ferrets can fly, and they all have retractable thumbs.

This playpen keeps them contained, keeps them safe, keeps my floors from being ruined, and also helps enormously with potty training.

I ordered the deluxe playpen along with the fitted cover (bottom) and carrying case -- the three together have been pure magic. The playpen takes less than a minute to set up, and the canvas bottom is easily connected. So far the ferrets have been unable to even come close to escaping. If I felt that were a concern, I would buy fitted canvas cover for the top. Even though it is heavy, I was able to set up the playpen myself and also break it down/put it away myself.

The playpen itself is very high quality -- heavy duty metal but coated in a nice white finish. The panels are removable so you can add more to create a huge space, or remove a few for smaller spaces. It's big enough to sit inside of with the ferrets to play (and I'm 6'1".)

I have two minor complaints: one is that the straps that attach the canvas cover bottom to the playpen are Velcro. Although Marshalls claims the playpen kit was created by ferret owners, anyone in their right mind who knows ferrets would never use Velcro as a fastener. Especially one as important as the top or bottom of an enclosure. My ferts spent quite a bit of time gnawing on the Velcro as it's one of their favorite things on the planet. Eventually they got distracted, but I think metal clasps or actual ties would have been a better choice.

The second complaint is that the canvas cover smells really, really awful. Like gasoline, or some heavy duty chemical. I assume it's the water-proofing on it, and I hope it wears off after awhile. But it concerns me that it's off-gassing that much, especially since my little furbabies are playing on it.

The best part about the playpen is that you can toss in a ton of blankets that the ferrets have slept in and arrange them all along the bottom around the litter box, and they are very unlikely to soil anywhere but the litter box. If they do miss, the canvas cover is waterproof and SO easy to clean up with some vinegar and water.

If you are on the fence about this product, totally get it! I wish I'd found it sooner.

Great addition to the playpen is the Ferret Superthruway Tunnel. Such a blast to watch them playing!