The new cage.

[mousehole]

This is the cage I built to accommodate Hummus's disability. It has no ramps because soon after he came to us he tripped on a ramp coming down and got his foot caught and I don't want it happening again.

( Please bear in mind that there's still a lot of work to be done. )

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The cage itself is 2'x2'x4' and I put casters under it to allow for ease of movement for when I vacuum around it.

The cage walls are made from a wire playpen, the surround is pvc moulding and the ledges are kd pine, extra wide.

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The cage door swings up so there is no trip hazard. I know the exercise wheel is plastic, but I inspect it when I clean the cage to make sure there are no bite marks, first sign of chewing and I'll have to figure out something else to stand alone - perhaps order one from the net since none of the 3 pets stores in the area carry the metal ones.

One ledge is made from the leftover playpen panel so I can hang toys from it so hummus can reach.

The extra wide shelf is accessible from the top of his hay box and another ledge at heights he can jump to. ( The hay box is not in the picture because they get their fresh hay at bedtime. I had just changed the fleece in the picture, I use their playtime to do the cage cleaning. )

As stated in another post, I just got rid of the fabric tunnel because it had a brittle wire in the support frame. I'm making my own with no wire, I don't want them cutting their gums.

It's still a work in progress, but it safe and secure.

 

[Mrs-Pigz]

Nice work so far!

 

[Amethyst]

The cage itself looks great, it's nice to hear someone willing to go the extra mile to make sure his life is comfortable despite having special needs. There are a couple things I'd like to point out though, first is the wheel, it's plastic and that is a problem not only because of the chewing but also as her runs on that it's plastic wearing against plastic creating plastic dust that he will be inhaling over time. No pet stores carry the chin safe metal ones, they are only available online and the only ones even online that are in Canada are the flying saucers from flowertown chinchillas. The only stand alone safe wheel I've heard of is this one but I know nothing about it. The second thing I'd like to point out is the brownish log, if it's this log it's made of molded hay with honey to hold it together, basically a sugar log, which is very unhealthy as chins shouldn't have sugar or any kind.

I see you are trying though, which is great, and as you said it's a work in progress. I'm sure he appreciates the work you're putting in, being less abled shouldn't mean having to have a boring cage.

 

[mousehole]

Thanks for your kind words. The log is not a snak shack, As for the wheel, I never knew about the plastic dust though so I'm glad I posted it. I'll remove it right away. The only thing that he is able to eat is the woven hay hut. Is that safe? The pet store marketed it as safe for chinchillas, but they said the same thing about the tunnel and I didn't think that was safe at all, so I got rid of it.

 

[Amethyst]

The hay hut is fine, it's just timothy hay. The biggest issues people seem to have with them are, some chins like to pee in them and/or some chins chew through them too quick for them to be worth the money or for it to work well as a hiding house for long.

 

[Jamiethomas1103]

cute

 

[sarahspins]

The only stand alone safe wheel I've heard of is this one but I know nothing about it.

I have one of these and it's very nicely made and I think it will last a very long time - but only one of my chins will run on it, the other will only run on the silver surfer (the other chin does run on both wheels equally).

 

[mousehole]

My daughter is heading down to the states and I've asked her to look into the pet shops. Are these wheels available in stores or is it online only? Does anyone know?

 

[Amethyst]

As far as I know you can only buy chin safe wheels online. All big box pet stores (petco, petland, petsmart, etc) only sell plastic wheels or the metal mesh wheels with bars, neither are safe.

 

[Minccino]

The cage looks great. )
Unfortunately, I don't think you can buy a safe wheel anywhere, but online.. Unless you can find one being sold second hand in your area. Good luck with the wheel hunt.