Chin cage?

[hpalmatier]

we bought our chin yesterday at a pet shop..(big mistake)! seems they have no clue in what they sold us. the cage we got has a plastic bottom and plastic shelves and ladder up to the shelves. she hasnt started chewing it yet but from what i have read she probably will soon. what brand/name of cage is good for chins since we r obviously going to have to return this one and get her something else?

 

[jbcstratton]

I use martins cages, but alot of people use ferret nation cages, but the pans should be changed out for the metal bass pans and wooden ledges used instead of the shelves that come with them. Hope this helps.

 

[lauralynne]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately, it's pretty common for petstores to not know correct information when it comes to chinchillas.

Start here for the basics as far as having a new chin http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=857

 

[Dewdrop]

Ferret nation is probably most common here.

If your unable to get the bass pans and wood shelves right away, you can make fleece covers for the duration. Just make it like a pillow case and put the shelf/flooring in tuck it and go....

I did that with my shelf for quite a while before I switched to wood ones. and until my bass pans got in. worked nicely.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Personally, I don't think the plastic bottom is a problem, unless the chin starts to chew them. I'd replace the shelves to wood ones and completely the ladders.

 

[greychins]

I second that plastic bottoms aren't necessarily bad. Many of our cages have plastic pans (like the superpet cage-type) and our chins leave them alone. Now, if we had plastic shelves, they'd chew those to pieces, but they leave the actual plastic bottom alone - they have plenty of shelves and other stuff to chew on.

I'm in love with the FN's, but Quality Cage and Martins's Cages are also some good ones.

 

[FutureDVM]

By far the most common cages used by members of this forum are Ferret Nation and Quality Cages. I personally have a Quality Cage chinchilla townhome and I love it. One of the main things I like about the QC cages is that they actually come with wooden shelves that are pre-made to fit the specific cage you order.

 

[ChinnieShop]

I have Ferret Nation and Prevue cages which are good as well as quality cage company. You can find all these minus the Ferret Nation ones on my site, take a look and you can see the differences from the descriptions and then you can decide what your best choice would be. For me Ferret Nation and Quality Cage are some of the best for sure.

 

[Jessica Beee]

I personally have a Critter Nation 162 cage (its almost identical to the ferret nation, i think the only difference is the bar spacing), with fleece completely covering the plastic pans, i love that set up [= The cage is AMAZING, I highly recommend it.
The only downside to this cage is the pans are very shallow, that's one of the reasons I use fleece instead of Bedding like Carefresh.

 

[Chinmama]

Our chins have Quality Cage Mansions. I love that we've had them for years and they are still as good as new. They come with the wooden shelves, a powder coated pan that easily pulls out for cleaning and they fold completely flat for storage. A good quality cage will be expensive, but when you look at how long a chinchilla is expected to live, it's a good investment.

 

[andreya]

All of my cages are Martin's and (once I get them together) I love them. They have plastic pans that are smooth and the chins can't get at the edges to chew them. They all have fleece hammocks and tubes and I add wood ledges and houses and there is no grate so they have plenty of non-metal surfaces to stand/sit/lay on.

 

[starrynight0621]

I use a Ferret Nation cage. If you want to look at how those are set up, there is a great thread dedicated to them in the housing section.

For me, the plastic bottoms were a problem. My chins chewed on them.