I'm using fleece liners, and pine bedding in a metal or glass container for a litter box. I like them. I have a FN142 so that's 2 tray liners plus the tube liners. I sweep the poops off the liner and change the bedding in the container daily. When I go to clean the cage I put Stitch in his play pen and then pull out the liners, trays and tubes. I've tried vacuuming the poos and shavings off the liners, but my Dyson's a little too powerful I guess. The vacuum might not be so bad if the liners were secured to the cage or tray. So, I sweep out as much as I can with a little dust pan and hand broom, then shake out the liners outside. I keep a bucket with a lid to toss the dirty liners in until washing to contain the smell. I wash a couple changes at a time, so I don't use as much water doing single loads. I still have to wash the trays as the liners I'm using now are only 2 layers and the pee soaks through. I don't know if 3 layers will be more absorbent or not. I'm going to do triple layers because Stitch has bumble foot. Currently I'm just folding the edges of fleece blankets over the edges of the plastic trays and tuck the over lapping fabric under so Stitch doesn't chew the sides. Second hand fleece blankets were cheaper than buying material. They've been washed a few times before use of course. I'm currently hand sewing triple layer liners cut from those blankets, my machine is broken, and I'm adding tabs to the corners and sides so I'll be able to cinch the blanket over the trays to hold it in place; no clips or velcro. Someone said they were trying to use magnates, but I'm not too sure how that would work. The only metal for magnates to attach to with my set up would be the cage itself as I don't use the Bass pans. If I don't tuck the edges over enough he does pull the liners back and tries to chew on the trays. I put his chillers in the corners to weigh the liners down too. I'll post pictures when I'm done with a set, but it'll be a while.
I've found that the fleece does show hair and I get little fur balls on the blankets some times after a wash. Stitch is a Black Velvet and I have multiple colors of liners. The dark color liners you don't notice the hair so much but the lighter ones you do. So, depending on what color your chinnys are and what color your liners are you'll see a difference of hair collection. I know some people say they use lint brushes, but I change the liners pretty often. I'm not too worried about a little hair since there's poo everywhere any way. ha
I like the fleece liners better than the pine bedding and care fresh. I used both pine and care fresh when I first got Stitch, but he was in a Super Pet type cage then. With the FN cages I don't see how you could use the loose bedding without getting deep trays. There would be bedding everywhere. Even with the litter box, I keep in the corner of the cage; just him jumping in and out he kicks the pine shavings out. I'm thinking of making cage bumpers for that corner or modifying my liners to have high back ends to contain the bedding there. I found a second hand stainless steel square pan about 8" square and 3" deep, I was also using an Anchor Hocking glass food storage container (purchased from Wal-Mart) minus the plastic lid (which melted in the dishwasher and downgraded the container from kitchen use to other use) that's about 8"x6" and 3" deep for the litter box. Stitch is about 4 years old and didn't have the litter box until just last month, but he uses it most of the time. He does still pee on the liner though.
I'm also using smaller blankets on the half shelves that come with the FN142 to cover them. I'm planning on getting rid of them and replacing with more tubes and other lined shelves. You probably won't need to line everything like I do. Stitch's bumble foot is what led me to fleece liners; it's easier on his feet. If you have a normal chin who doesn't camp out on his hard wood ledges, or insist on scraping away loose bedding from the floor to lay on the flat bottom you might be fine with the loose bedding. My sweeties feet are just tender. So I'd rather pad nearly everything for him, which he seems to prefer anyway, than have to stress him with vet visits and sore feet.
There’s nothing special you need with fleece liners. At first I didn’t use the potty pan and he just peed all over the place. So they don’t really need it, but I do find that it helps with the smell to have the pan you can change daily. For some reason the red blanket smelled worse than the other liners when peed on, may have just been the specific blanket. I recently got a nice chunk of cholla that I chopped up and have around his cage which he does like to jump around on and chew on. Other people have wood perches, shelves, and bridges and all sorts of other toys too. I have a fleece hammock in there. I also set his dust bowl in there for him to dust in every couple days. Oh, and he's got his saucer too, but I still have yet to see him use it... it's been a year. And then there’s hay, water, and pellets of course.
