How many chins in a FN142?

[ErinsChins]

I have a friend who sold her chins and she has given me her FN142 to borrow for about 2 years. I have already order the replacement pans yadda yadda. At the moment I have 9 females in it. It is not divided, they are just bonded. They range in age from 4 months-7 years. They have been together for a long time except for two weanlings who have been with them for two months. Before they were in 3 cages (2ftx 2ft x 3 ft each) that had holes that they could go through. So my question is, is a fn142 big enough for 9 chins?

 

[Mikayla]

I know this isn't relevant...but I would love to see pictures of the lovely ladies. :]

 

[Andrea]

That seems crowded to me but if the girls are happy and bonded then I don't see a problem. Just be sure to sweep the shelves daily and really keep it extra clean because I would be that nine chins in one cage would require a LOT of cleaning!

 

[ErinsChins]

Mikayla, I will get you pictures this afternoon it's quite the group!

Andrea, FNs are incredibly easy to clean so if it's daily I do not mind, these girls are just such a trip!

 

[Andrea]

As long as it's sanitary and they're happy...I don't see it as a problem

 

[Brittany]

Chins don't need as much room as we think they do, breeders are just fine living in runs. With so many chins in one cage I would be extra vigilante for signs of bullying/ fighting. I'd also want to make sure that each animal was getting enough to eat/ drink. Good luck with the non-tet.

 

[Pikaia]

I wanna see pictures too Erin!

 

[ChinnyMom]

omg, imagine the cuddle pile with that many lovely lil ladies!

:useless:

 

[ErinsChins]

I have 4 water bottles and four food dishes, I forgot to add. I took some pictures. The stuff in the cage is temporary, we just set it up (PITA!). These girls are almost all permant pet-only residents with the exception of a few weanlings.

Non-tet?


ETA: Fixed pics! I'll sneak in on them later when they settle down. They always insist on being in a huge pile together on the same ledge

 

[Sdo9396]

Ruby wants to come to the chin party lol

 

[Mikayla]

Oh my goodness gracious! That is ADORABLE! It's a chin party :] I love it!

I also don't think that it looks crowded at all, I think they look cozy

 

[kathiva]

They seem to be doing ok, but maybe if you take the middle pan off and put some smaller shelves, they would get to use the bottom part more, I had a friend that had 4 chins in a 4 feet tall cage that had a middle floor with a small hole to go to the bottom level and had a ramp to go in it, and they would always hang out in the first level! so maybe if you want them to use all the space you can do that.

 

[tati121]

I also think you would have more space if you took out the divider and added more ledges. Also, your hammock seems to be made out of materials other than fleece so replacing it with a chin approved one would be recommended. Do they all sleep together? Maybe you can get a few hidey houses, cuddle tubes, cuddle ledges just so they can retreat to different places if they're pissed at one of their roomies

 

[Stackie]

I'm not sure if I would take the middle pan out in a cage with that many chins. I guess I just feel like with that many chins, there's more of a chance for an accident. One could be jumping to a shelf that already has a chin or two on it, not completely make it, and fall. At least with the middle pan, the fall wouldn't be so far. JMO.

I can't imagine having 9 chins in a FN. I think 4 or 5 would be my limit.

 

[StevieP]

I have to disagree and say that the middle divider should stay. There is going to be a lot of action going on with 9 chins in there so they need that to fall on. Not to mention it adds more floor space to put bowls and hidey houses and whatever on.

 

[Essentia]

I think they are fine as long as they all get along flawlessly. More than anything I'm mad you got 9 to get along when I can't get 2!

 

[Brittany]

Non-tet?

Non is the prefix for nine, just like tri is 3 as in trio, quad or quar is 4 as in quadruplets, quin (5), sex (6), sept (7), oct (8), non (9) , dec (10) etc... Your chins wouldn't be nontuplets because they aren't from the same litter, so they're a nontet (group of 9).

That's a lot of cuteness in that cage, good luck with them!

 

[Sandi]

I'd definitely keep the middle divider in. If something should happen you could easily close up a section quickly. Also, add a few hidey houses as well as a shelf/ledge closer to the opening of the middle divider so they don't have too far to jump down to get to the lower level. When I read 9 in one FN, I immediately thought that is way too many chins in one cage but looking at your pics it doesn't seem like overcrowding at all. I would just really keep a super close eye for any tifs between the girls.

 

[broderp]

I have 4 water bottles and four food dishes, I forgot to add. I took some pictures. The stuff in the cage is temporary, we just set it up (PITA!). These girls are almost all permant pet-only residents with the exception of a few weanlings.

ETA: Fixed pics! I'll sneak in on them later when they settle down. They always insist on being in a huge pile together on the same ledge

I need to keep my wife from looking at this thread. LOL, we have two, and if she sees how nice NINE will fit........oh lord :chin4::chin4::chin4::chin4:

They are all adorable! I do have a question: Do they jump from the upper shelf? My wife (and I ) are paranoid about our two boys lookin gover the edge for fear they will try to jump down and break a leg or something.

 

[kathiva]

I'd definitely keep the middle divider in. If something should happen you could easily close up a section quickly. Also, add a few hidey houses as well as a shelf/ledge closer to the opening of the middle divider so they don't have too far to jump down to get to the lower level. When I read 9 in one FN, I immediately thought that is way too many chins in one cage but looking at your pics it doesn't seem like overcrowding at all. I would just really keep a super close eye for any tifs between the girls.

mmm, yeah, you are right, I didn't think of that either, was just thinking on the use of space at the moment.