Questions About Fleece Bedding and Critter Nation Cage

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zaveng7

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
6
Location
Ohio
Hello, I am new to this forum, and to all forums actually, so I apologize for my lack of knowledge of these types of things haha.

I have 2 male chinchillas (ages 1 and 3 years) living a cage I built out of wood and wire fencing, mainly as a temporary cage until I could buy a higher quality one to last a long time. It's not very easy to clean and maintain, and it's also pretty ugly. So the plan is to buy a Critter Nation next week for my birthday.
Right now I use wood shavings as bedding and it is VERY messy, even with 3 inch deep pans. And it doesn't help that the Critter Nation's pans are like a half inch deep or something stupid.
To any of you reading who use fleece liners, how do those work? I've seen so many people online say they use fleece bedding for their chins, and it sounds like a great idea to me, I just have a few questions about bedding and the cage.
I will list everything I'm having trouble finding help with:

-Do the chins chew through it? And how might you stop it if so?
-How do you make them and maintain them?
-Should I place a absorbent layer underneath the fleece, or will the fabric be enough?
-What might be the cheapest way to buy the Critter Nation? (Double) Do they go on sale for Black Friday/Cyber Monday on Amazon? Probably a dumb question but I figured I might as well ask just in case.
-What are your thoughts o fleece bedding, the Critter Nation, or both in conjunction with each other?

Any help with any of these topics would be greatly appreciated. Any and all other tips regarding fleece bedding or the cage are welcome as well! Thanks in advance! :)
 
No worries about not knowing about stuff, that is what you are here to learn right? :)

Most chins don't chew fleece, it doesn't shred and/or unravel into stings like other fabric so it's not interesting to chew apart. Test nibbles at first are normal, but that is often as far as it goes. If however you have a chin that does chew it, beyond just a test nibble, you do unfortunately need to find a different bedding. Although a small amount if swallowed will likely pass without issue, if enough is eaten it will cause a gut blockage. You can't really stop them, a chin is going to do whatever they want to do, lol, it's up to you to keep an eye on them.

You can either make liners yourself or buy them from a vendor online. My preferred way to make them for the shallow plastic pans is pillowcase style. Measure the size of the pan, cut the fleece a little over twice that, fold in half and sew up 2 of the 3 open sides, then slide the pan in, fold extra under the pan. The bottom pan of the cage I actually have the pan in pillowcase style liner with a pillow style liner on top, weighed down in the corners by tiles. The half cage shelf has a pillowcase style with a pillow style pad inside. (I can take pictures if you want me to if you don't understand what I am talking about, lol.)

Some people use towels as an absorbent layer, I just have 3 layers thick of fleece. That way if they do chew it, it's just more fleece. Also make sure whatever you use, prewash it so it doesn't shrink after you make it. Don't use fabric softener, it will cause the fleece to use it's absorbancy. The best thing to wash them with is vinegar, about a cup per load.

I can't really help with where to buy a CN, I live in Canada, but I know another place that regularly has them on sale and has free shipping, in the US, is Ferret.com. I know amazon has had them on sale it the past, but there is no way to know if they will this year or not.

Personally I love the fleece bedding, but there are pros and cons. Pros include, you can customize the fleece to the seasons, favorite color, favorite sports team, and/or holidays (whatever you want and can find a fleece pattern of), no litter being kicked out, soft carpet like flooring for the chins, and you just vacuum them to clean the solid stuff off (in the summer I also shake them off outside) and throw them threw the washer to clean them. Cons include, they can stink if not changed enough, they need to be changed a couple times a week to avoid pee smell, hay and stick pieces stick to it, poop and hay still get kicked out of the cage, you will need at least 2 sets so you can wash one and have one in the cage, and if you live somewhere that you pay for laundry it can get expensive.

I have a Ferret Nation not a Critter Nation (same size cage, just different bar spacing and orientation) but I love it. Here is resent pics of my guy's cage to get an idea. I love the accessibility and customizing ablity of the cage, I can get to any spot in the cage since the whole front opens when you open both doors on each level. If you want to you can take out the middle and half shelves and just have the bottom pan to deal with. I removed the middle and one half shelf and replace them with wood shelving.

There are metal pans you can buy like ones sold on Bass Equipment that are much deeper then the plastic ones the cage comes with. If you go with deep metal pans your better off going with a pillow style liner, sew all the layers together to form a flat pillow like liner. The pictures aren't great but here is a link to how to make them, that person uses quilt material, but as I've said, that personally makes me nervous, so I just make it with all fleece instead.
 
Wow thanks so much! I had assumed it would take a few replies to get ALL the major info I had needed, as some people have knowledge of certain things but not others. Anyways that did clarify almost details about fleece that I was concerned about, I’m feeling pretty confident now that I will use it. Or at least try it lol. Thanks so much for your help! :)
 
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