Cage advice//suggestions?

[brittiny]

Sometime soon, like with-in the next 6 months, Jeremy and I are thinking about upgrading our chins to a bigger, better cage because we'll finally have room for one (we're currently using the ferret superpet cage he bought when he got Dr. D.-minus all the plastic). We're looking at the double door mansion at QC, but the FN cages seem to be so popular with you guys, and since I stumbled upon the FN site I know there's a Critter Nation cage out there. There's just so many choices. :wacko:
What do you recommend?
I already priced all the stuff I'd need (and want to add ;p ) if we go with the QC, but I like that the FN has huge doors that open wide. Also, it looks like many of the things ya'll sell are already FN tested and approved, and I'm wondering since I have to order all my stuff online (mostly from ya'll sites cause ya'll have such AWESOME STUFF....*grumbles* i wish i were a chinchilla) if my life wouldn't be just a little be easier just going ahead with a FN?
Help?

 

[tunes]

Hands down on this forum, pet owners recommend the Ferret Nation 142. Looots of room, very large cage that you can really deck out.

 

[Stackie]

I have 3 FN's and love them. The full front opening doors are probably my most favorite thing about them- they make placing things in the cage, cleaning, and catching a chinchilla much easier than having to squeeze into a small door and reach in odd angles.

The fact that they can be separated is a huge plus- if you have two chins, you can have one in each level, saving floor space. Or, if you have two chins together and they happen to fight, the FN can quickly and easily be separated into two separate cages.

The offer plenty of space, and you can put pretty much anything in them. One thing you may consider is buying metal pans from www.bassequipment.com, since the shallow plastic pans they come with aren't great at keeping bedding/poop in.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I've had my FN's for 2? 3? years now and have done a lot with them.

 

[brittiny]

Looks like we're gonna be joining the club soon. lol. We're planning on filling the thing up with the works....aka Jeremy's long awaited pirate theme... My two chins are bonded and since we have no plans of adding another one soon... (jeremy wants to wait till after college, sounds alot like torture to me... >_>) they be free to have the whole run of the thing to themselves. I was planning on getting that pan as well as trying to introduce them to a little thing called a fleece liner? lol

 

[momenteller]

I posted this question too a month or so ago...

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9066

I was leaning towards the QC Mansion at the time, but have since been persuaded to go the FN route. Prolly for the reasons you mentioned: so much of the gear here is already adapted for those cages, and I love how wide the doors open for easy cleaning and chin access. Good luck, I know its a hard decision!

 

[Stackie]

Fleece liners are great, I'm so glad I switched to them!

 

[brittiny]

so has anyone tried that "critter nation"? we decided we'd rather the FN because it's bigger, but the critter says it's easier to assemble because it just "snaps in place"...I'm thrown off by that because it just seems that if it "snaps in so easy" it might just happen to "snap out" just as easy...idk, I like the idea of having eveything secure...I also might be worrying about nothing, but who knows...as for putting together an FN, I'm quite a handy girl if I do say so myself and I think I can manage...

 

[Stackie]

I don't have a critter nation...but I'm a whopping 5'2" and not very strong or handy at all and put all my FN's together by myself.

 

[brittiny]

I'm sold. It's roomy, and easy to clean-which will help me out when Jeremy's out of town. I'm diggin the FN. I guess I should start scouting the petsmarts see if I can get one...unless ya'll think it'll be better to get one shipped?

 

[xcoronaangel]

The only different is I believe the Price... critter is More and that the critter has a different cross bar design. I believe the critter nation has more bars going horizontal then the ferret nation but having said that my chins cant escape the FN so I dont see why Id pay more for the CN

I just bought another FN and the first one was a little interesting to set up on my own... it crashed a few times during building and there were a few choice words yelled at it but the second FN I put together was super easy since I had learned all the tricks the first time around. (Dont screw anything in tight intill the whole FN it put together top to bottom THEN screw them all down that way your doors will line up properly.)

so has anyone tried that "critter nation"? we decided we'd rather the FN because it's bigger, but the critter says it's easier to assemble because it just "snaps in place"...I'm thrown off by that because it just seems that if it "snaps in so easy" it might just happen to "snap out" just as easy...idk, I like the idea of having eveything secure...I also might be worrying about nothing, but who knows...as for putting together an FN, I'm quite a handy girl if I do say so myself and I think I can manage...

 

[brittiny]

(Dont screw anything in tight intill the whole FN it put together top to bottom THEN screw them all down that way your doors will line up properly.)

Lol, that's good to know considering I'll be left to put the thing together because jeremy will be called to work out of town...it never fails, when I got the chinspin he was away and I had to figure out how to lift the cage (the silly superpet ferrect cage, err) just enough to slide in the wheel without sending the chins tumbling down (the place we're at now doesn't have a chinsafe room, so I couldn't let them run around causing trouble...)

 

[Sandi]

I'm sold. It's roomy, and easy to clean-which will help me out when Jeremy's out of town. I'm diggin the FN. I guess I should start scouting the petsmarts see if I can get one...unless ya'll think it'll be better to get one shipped?

I got my FN about 3 months ago. I printed out the ad from kennelvet and called the 4 Petsmarts close to me to see if they had the FN142 in stock and pricematched online ads and all of them said yes. If you don't have a petsmart close by, I suggest you call first in case they don't pricematch. The total cost I paid including tax was $167.

http://www.kennelvet.com/ferret-nation-habitat-625h-p-1753.html

 

[cintistatern2005]

I have the critter nation and would rather have a ferret nation only for one reason. I love to just walk by and stick my fingers through the bars and give chinny scritches. Well with the critter nation you can do that, i have small fingers and they barely fit between the bars. The FN has much wider bars.