Need advice on cage change

[mishellyshel]

Background:
i have 1 FN 142 & 1 FN 142+143 add on, 6 chins live in those 5 sections.

i just picked up a FN141. My plan is too take the 143 off and have 3 cages all 2 story. (i am tired of sitting on the floor to clean the bottom cage!)

my fiance built a table to put 2 of them on and the other will prob sit on what it came with or he will build another table for me.

Now to my questions:

1. Snickers & Oreo had to be separated due to some mild fighing, should i put their units next to each other?? they were such best buds, i thought it might be nice to be neighbors

2. I am finally moving Zucca from my kitchen. He is currently in a Feisty Ferret cage which is pretty big and multiple levels. I am going to put him in one of the open units. what is the best way to set up his cage since the feisty ferret is multi level with ramps. and do you think he will be sad because he is getting downsized???

3. now that I am hopefully keeping Lily the Guinea Pig, will she be okay in a FN or is that just wasted space since they dont really jump. if i decide NOT to put her in a FN can I still have her in the same room with the chins. she is out of quarantine.

4the & final.....now that all but 2 of my chins will be in the same area, i need a nice large playpen that they cant jump out of and that is easily collapsible.
i am liking the plastic ones.......because i can be in the same room as them and watch them......but can they wall surf & jump over??

 

[Cheknnudol]

If you're worried about them jumping over the playpen then I know that people have made pens out of refrigerator boxes (just packing-tape the tall panels together with a little space between so you can still fold it). You won't be able to see through it, but once assembled it's fairly sturdy, very tall, and you can fold it up for storage if you need to (assuming you build it the same way). I'll see if I can find the thread about it here, but it might have been on CnQ.

Oh, and the best part about it is it only costs as much as the packing tape since generally (depending on your area) people are willing to give away their fridge boxes for nothing. If not, though, you can buy 4' x 2' cardboard panels online for fairly cheap. 20 bucks for 5 of them or something? Google around.

 

[Chubi32]

When I got my two brothers they were in a huge 4 story cage, it was extremely dirty and smelly so we downsized them into our own wire cage and they seemed to be just fine. I'm not sure if it was because their cage was so dirty and they had the type of cage where the whole level was covered so there was NO jumping room or if they just didn't care but either way I'm sure he'll get used to it after/if you put in ledges and things.

 

[minrex]

I wouldn't put the guinea pig in a Ferret Nation. They don't need more than about 8 inches of vertical space in their cage, since they don't do any jumping or climbing. All that vertical space would be wasted. And yes, you should be able to keep her in the same room as your chins. I've been housing my chins and pigs in the same room for almost 3 years with no problems at all.