FN broke due to wheel help

mishellyshel · Mar 21, 2011

This weekend my one chin who has a feeder pan style wheel had his wheel crack the metal bars of his cage. it is broken in more than one position.....both the vertical & horizontal bar cracked in half.

Has this happened to anyone and if so, how did you fix the bar? Should I weld them back together?

Also what support can I use so that I can eventually put the wheel back.
I was thinking a wood support but could not envision how that would attach to the cage.

3CsMommy · Mar 21, 2011

Can't help w/ the cage repair, but to reattach the wheel, what I would do is take two pieces of wood (probably 1"x8") and bolt them together with the cage panel sandwiched between. Then, attach the wheel to the wood rather than to the bars. Not sure if you'd have to attach the wheel to the inside piece of wood first or not, but the idea is that multiple attachment points over a larger area will reduce the stress on individual pieces of the cage wire and lessen the chance of breaks in the future.

obcsed · Mar 21, 2011

I popped a weld on one side of a 142. I ordered a new side panel form Midwest for about $25.

mishellyshel · Mar 22, 2011

thanks! i will see what my handy guy can figure out with the wood. he was going to weld where it came apart himself since he has a certification in welding.

momenteller · Mar 22, 2011

mishellyshel said:
Also what support can I use so that I can eventually put the wheel back.
I was thinking a wood support but could not envision how that would attach to the cage.

Don't know if you saw this thread:

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23308&highlight=chili+wheel

But thought it might give you an idea for wood supports.