A Few Questions...
- Thread starter em.kooi
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if you post what kind of questions you are stuck on I bet we could help ! its great you are researching can save money on things knowing what supplies are good and be prepared when I got my chin I had to throw all the stuff out that came with her!
Sorry about that... for some reason it posted before I got done typing...
Anyways, here are my questions:
1. I am kinda stuck on a cage. I have narrowed it down to some but I don't know what would be best. You could also suggest some, $100 is the absolute maximum (less than $80 is preferred).
Cage 1:http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752703&lmdn=Pet+Type
Cage 2:http://www.petco.com/product/13557/Super-Pet-My-First-Home-Complete-Kit-for-Chinchillas.aspx
Cage 3:http://www.petco.com/product/113057/WARE-Chew-Proof-Three-Level-Small-Animal-Pet-Cage.aspx
or one of these: http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/chinchilla/
*Note, I will be adding pine ledges to these cages and taking out plastic ones if it is an issue
2. Where can I find a decently priced wheel?
3. I live in West MI, so if anyone is selling a chinchilla or cage or knows of breeders near here, please let me know.
Thanks for reading and helping me out!
Anyways, here are my questions:
1. I am kinda stuck on a cage. I have narrowed it down to some but I don't know what would be best. You could also suggest some, $100 is the absolute maximum (less than $80 is preferred).
Cage 1:http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752703&lmdn=Pet+Type
Cage 2:http://www.petco.com/product/13557/Super-Pet-My-First-Home-Complete-Kit-for-Chinchillas.aspx
Cage 3:http://www.petco.com/product/113057/WARE-Chew-Proof-Three-Level-Small-Animal-Pet-Cage.aspx
or one of these: http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/chinchilla/
*Note, I will be adding pine ledges to these cages and taking out plastic ones if it is an issue
2. Where can I find a decently priced wheel?
3. I live in West MI, so if anyone is selling a chinchilla or cage or knows of breeders near here, please let me know.
Thanks for reading and helping me out!
Srlampron
poop hunter/gatherer
I, personally would go with one of the Martin's cages. They have no plastic and have small spaces between the mesh in case you get or someday have a baby chinchilla. As far as the wheel goes, unless you get lucky and find one used, or your chin has one when you adopt, you are going to pay for it. The ones recommended are: Silver Surfer, and the Chin Spin & Flying Saucer (both from Quality Cages). All are pricey. Try eBay, or even on here there is a for sale/wanted section. I don't know of any breeders, but I'm sure that one of the pros on here can help with that. I'm just an amateur that really loves her chinchilla.
Sandi
non-stop poop sweeper
In Michigan I would recommend Becky, she is an admin here. I'd also suggest to scour craigslist for a ferret nation cage. You may get lucky and get a great deal on one of the most recommended cages.
greychins
NWI Chinchillas
As for a cage, have you checked your local craigslist or other site like that? I've found FN's around here for $100 on our craigslist. Granted, they needed some upgrades to be chin safe, but the point is, a smaller cage would be even cheaper. And you could easily get a bigger cage than the ones that you linked to by finding one on craigslist, giving it a good scrub-down, and adding wood shelves. It's a cheap alternative if you don't mind having something used.
I have a Martins cage here for my prairie dog -- I do like it, but the downside of one of them is that they come in pieces and you have to clip them together with C-clips and a tiny little set of pliers. Maybe not such a big deal if you're looking at a $100 or less chin cage that's not too big or complicated, but it was a pain in the neck for a $250, 5-foot-tall prairie dog cage with several wire levels and ramps. Just a thought, and I think worth mentioning, cause I've had some of our adoptive homes buy from Martins and not realize the cage wouldn't come put together.
For the wheels -- the cheapest one is the silver surfer, found on chinchillas.com. I believe it's $50+ shipping. Sometimes I've seen people on here have chin spins or saucers for sale, but as those are more expensive to begin with, the "used price" of them tends to be $50 or above, so either way, you end up paying a decent amount for the wheel. Those wheels that you see that are like $20-30 and made out of the metal feed pan -- totally not worth it. They make a ton of noise. We had one donated awhile ago and our chins wouldn't even run on it, they didn't like it (but those same chins would run on chin spins). We ended up taking it apart, sealing the holes, and using it as a litter pan.
The two other wheels, the chin spin and the flying saucer, can be found on qualitycage.com. I want to say they're around $80-90 before shipping. For the chin spin, you'd want to get the 15" one.
JAGS (Jeri and Randy Jagielo) are in Houghton Lake, MI. Not sure how close that is to you, but they're a large breeder and I imagine they'd have some to choose from. There are other breeders in MI as well -- but I just don't know them off the top of my head. Hopefully someone else can chime in and help you there.
I have a Martins cage here for my prairie dog -- I do like it, but the downside of one of them is that they come in pieces and you have to clip them together with C-clips and a tiny little set of pliers. Maybe not such a big deal if you're looking at a $100 or less chin cage that's not too big or complicated, but it was a pain in the neck for a $250, 5-foot-tall prairie dog cage with several wire levels and ramps. Just a thought, and I think worth mentioning, cause I've had some of our adoptive homes buy from Martins and not realize the cage wouldn't come put together.
For the wheels -- the cheapest one is the silver surfer, found on chinchillas.com. I believe it's $50+ shipping. Sometimes I've seen people on here have chin spins or saucers for sale, but as those are more expensive to begin with, the "used price" of them tends to be $50 or above, so either way, you end up paying a decent amount for the wheel. Those wheels that you see that are like $20-30 and made out of the metal feed pan -- totally not worth it. They make a ton of noise. We had one donated awhile ago and our chins wouldn't even run on it, they didn't like it (but those same chins would run on chin spins). We ended up taking it apart, sealing the holes, and using it as a litter pan.
The two other wheels, the chin spin and the flying saucer, can be found on qualitycage.com. I want to say they're around $80-90 before shipping. For the chin spin, you'd want to get the 15" one.
JAGS (Jeri and Randy Jagielo) are in Houghton Lake, MI. Not sure how close that is to you, but they're a large breeder and I imagine they'd have some to choose from. There are other breeders in MI as well -- but I just don't know them off the top of my head. Hopefully someone else can chime in and help you there.
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I have a Highrise Martin cage and I love it! I have three chins, and I think the bigger cage you can get the better! It was not hard to put together, but it did take me a while with all the C-clips used to put it together. In the long run, it was well worth it. I took the ramps out and I added wood shelves and fleece items. Here is a picture. One other thing, this picture is a year old and now I have added a flying saucer on the bottom level of the cage.
