How best to protect feet from wire cage?

[meaghanh]

Hi everyone, I am a brand new chin owner as of tonight so I am thus new to everything including the forums. I've done a lot of research but I'm still a little confused when it comes to cage surfaces. Right now I have just regular cage wire that are like 1/2" squares or something. Do I need to put something over that to protect the feet? Is that something that is necessary? I don't really know any chin owners so I am just not sure what is the normal way to approach this. Any suggestions or tips would be great!

 

[tunes]

You need to provide her places to get off the wire. Put down some tile or some pine boards so that she can rest her feet. Some chins that are constantly on wire develop bumble foot, others have no trouble. But either way, it's good for her to get off of the wire. I would imagine living on wire all the time isn't all that comfortable.

 

[meaghanh]

Okay thanks, I have a wooden ledge already and a hidey house but I will plan on buying something else too.

 

[alli713]

I use wire bottom cages. My girls get wood ledges, fleece tubes and hammocks, as well as granite tiles on parts of the wire.

You can buy granite or marble square tiles from the home improvement store. I put those under neath their food bowls, where I imagine they spend some time sitting. That way when they're sitting eating they don't have to sit on the wire.

Some of the cages also have a litter pan in one of the corners. Just a glass square baking dish full of pine bedding. I use these in the cages of my girls who are trained to pee in that corner. My one girl, Chibi, pees in hers exclusively. So it makes cleaning her cage super easy.

But other than that, my girls hardly spend any time at the bottom of their cages on the wire.

 

[mishellyshel]

i have one cage with a wire floor and on the bottom level i have 2 litter pans and a big 12 x 12 marble tile i got from home depot. the litter pans are brownie or cake pans that i got from the dollar store and i fill with pine shavings. the top level is covered in one layer of fleece and also has a tile (not marble) and his hidey house and i nice pile of folded fleece that makes a little bed that he loves to lounge on. several shelves on both levels. there is only a small spot that is just wire on the bottom and he rarely even goes there.

 

[AZChins]

All of my cages have wire bottoms. I do the same as everyone. They have ledges and tiles and other things to get up off the wire if they want. Half the chins sleep right on the wire regardless of things to get up off the wire. In the summer everyone sleeps sprawled out on the wire. As long as they have something to get up off of the wire chins are fine with it...as long as it is the correct wire spacing.

 

[Idgie]

I have a wire bottom cage and I bought a piece of lucite to cover the bottom. Basically, it is the cover for a flourescent light in a drop ceiling. They sell them at Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. A 4'x4" piece is about $5 or they have 4'x8' pieces. It is flexible enough to bend into the cage (I had to put it through the door b/c my sides don't come up). You can score it with a knife and then snap it to make it fit your cage. But be careful, it does crack easily & pieces can fly up into your eyes, so glasses are a must. I just put the bedding right on it. It is so easy to clean with water and vinegar--much easier than cleaning all those wires. Maybe it could work for you. Good luck.