Ferret Nation 142 wood shelves

[fullhouse486]

I am in the process of setting up my chin's cage (FN142). He comes in a few weeks. I've seen several posts where owners take out the FN shelves and then use the pine shelving instead. If anyone is familiar with this cage, how many shelves should I place on each level for my chin to jump around on? And what is the maximum spacing between shelves that is safe? I don't want him to fall getting from shelf to shelf. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Sandi]

This thread will give you tons of ideas of how to set up your FN...

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134

 

[ashleynicol3]

I have a house, an L-shaped ledge, a shelf, and two lava ledges in the bottom of mine. One of the lava ledges is right under the opening to help him to get up and down from level to level. Up top, I have a bridge with a ledge on either side, three ledges in the back, a hammock, and another lava ledge. You can probably fit five or six ledges per level. They can jump pretty well - I didn't realize how well until I actually saw it, and my guy is still a baby (~3 months). He likes to jump from ledge to ledge like he's crazy when he gets excited! I would just make sure you keep the top level and the bottom level sectioned off (other than the opening in the corner) or, if not, put a hammock or something to catch him in case he does misjudge a jump - so he doesn't fall too far.

 

[fullhouse486]

Thank you for your help!

 

[Brian123]

I've had my 1year old chins for about 2 weeks now in a FN182 cage, full of wooden ledges and perches. They are good jumpers and surprisingly fast and accurate, expect when they panic. From my short experience, your chin will be skittish until he's use to his new home, so maybe make the early setup safer than usual. Sometimes the most unexpected noise will scare them.

I gave mine two options to go up from the bottom, a short jump in the front, or a high jump in the back. Unfortunately, when spooked, they go up via the back and often not make that jump they do so easily when level headed. Worse results when two chinchillas panic and try the same route. More often than not, they had spooked themselves.