Opinions on Potential PetPlanet Chinchilla Cage?

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Spodumena

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 29, 2016
Messages
89
Location
Manchester, UK
I was wondering if people could weigh in on this potential cage, the Rat & Ferret Cage by PetPlanet:

https://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=456&pf_id=68616

Ferret Nations are hard to come by in the UK. Not impossible, but they're much more expensive than they are in the US. I was wondering if this might be a good alternative to upgrade the chins from their starter cage as I want to give them more romping room. It looks like it comes with metal pans already which is definitely a plus as it's difficult to find someone in the UK to make the metal pans to measure, and I think shipping from BassEquipment would be fairly pricey. I'd be leaving out the extra metal shelves and ladders and filing with wooden platforms, and probably either tiling or fleece-ing the bottoms. But how does everything else look to people?

I can't find very much information on the cage, besides one review on YouTube from a girl who has rats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-SI1KML-GM

I'm just wondering if there are some obvious pitfalls that I'm not seeing as of yet... Any opinions from more seasoned chin-friends would be much appreciated! Or if someone has experience with this cage, even better!
 
It looks great to me, its about the same size as the FN, just a bit of a different setup for the doors and latches. Honestly from what I can see I like it better then the FN since it does come with not only metal pans but deep metal pans. I wouldn't use the hammocks since I can't tell if it's all fleece or not, I only watched a little of the video, so that may have been explained too.

One thing that seems common with FN lookalike cages though is longevity issues do to rust. It doesn't say anything about what the metal it is or what the coating on the bars is, if it's powder coated or paint. If it's paint it's more likely to chip if you aren't careful with cleaning.
 
Thanks, Amethyst! I'll see what I can find out about the bar coating. On another rat forum someone said they've had it for over a year and it is wearing very well. From the video it *looks* like it's powder coated, but maybe I'll contact the company to ask. Thanks very much for weighing in. I'm glad it looks like a good potential new home.
 
at first glance it looks fairly decent. Trade out those ladders for some safe wooden ledges and it would be good to go.
 
Can I also ask -- what precautions do I need to take when I eventually put the chins in their new house? Does everything have to be scrubbed and fresh even with a pair of well-bonded chins? Or will having a few things that smell like home help them adjust? I'm expecting they will have to work out a few things again dominance-wise, favorite spots, and the like, but any tips would be appreciated!
 
You don't need to scrub it, the cage will already smell neutral. I would give it a quick wipe down though just to get any particles off it (dust, paint or metal dust, stuff from anyone who handled it, etc). I would put stuff from the old cage in the new one though so it does smell like home. Some chins are fine with all new stuff, others kinda freakout and refuse to move. So it's best to just let them have some old stuff at first, even if you plan to change everything out eventually.
 
id wipe it down to get anything off that might have gotten on it. Then i usually would leave there scented item in the cage for a familiar smell.
 
Thanks both for the feedback! Will be a work in progress.

Incidentally, if anyone else happens across this thread in the future: the company got back to me (super quickly, especially considering it was Easter!) and the bars are powder coated - another plus!
 
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