Having a panic- cage bottoms

Lsfb1989 · Jun 27, 2013

Hi,

I have 2 * 9 month old grey girls that ive have for 2 months. I have been using newspaper covered in hay on the bottom of the cage. I am paranoid that this is wrong, or unhealthy. Please can someone help me? Its a different hay from the timothy hay they eat, although they do nibble the hay!

We have a [F12 Sky Double Storey Ferret Chinchilla]
(http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B001T9BOIS)

ljiayi · Jun 28, 2013

You could choose from various beddings for the bottom of you cage. The popular choices are kiln pine pellet or fleece bedding. As for the cage itself, have you removed the ramps and change the plastic ledges to a chin-safe material?

Basket_of_Chinchillas · Jun 28, 2013

I'd switch to shavings (aspen or pine) or fleece for the bottom of the cage and remove the plastic ledges, as mentioned above, and replace them with chin-safe non-plastic ledges

Lsfb1989 · Jun 28, 2013

Hey, yeah i took out all the plastic the day i got the chins, its all wooden now. ThanKs

Newt · Jun 28, 2013

I use aspen shavings, which are great. Fleece is less messy (though not super absorbent) and will save $$$ in the long run, but my girl chews fleece, so she can't have it.

I wouldn't use the newspaper though... chins will probably eat it, which isn't terribly healthy, what with the inks, and the risk of it causing an impaction or other gut probs.

Lsfb1989 · Jun 28, 2013

What about the newspaper I put on the bottom of the cage> Ive never seen any dye on their feet?

Caroline · Jun 28, 2013

If you want to use paper I would recommend buying a box of paper used for packing, can't think of name right now as I just woke up.

Caroline · Jun 28, 2013

I tried fleece for a while but was concerned about what the dust from their baths would do to my machines. Had something happened to them I probably would not have been allowed to have fancy frontloaders anymore and would have ended up with a mismatched set of toploaders off of Craigslist.