New FN182 arrived!

[koopashark]

Of course I started decorating it right away for when we can eventually (hopefully) house the boys together in there. I spent all day building pans from pine because we couldn't justify spending money on the Bass metal ones right now after Koopa's vet bills.

It took forever since I only have a hand saw/sander but this is what I've accomplished so far!

Top shelf:

Whole cage:

I also hung the hammock I had sewn (also by hand - I need a sewing machine!!!) and will start adding more accessories slowly over time. Even if they don't get along during intro's it will be great to get each one into a section of this cage because 2 side by side takes up so much room in our little apartment. These little boogers are lucky I'm home all summer because they're getting so spoiled with all of their hand crafted little projects. I also made them each a PVC pipe with a fleece liner, and a snuggle buddy, which turned out looking more like a weird dog with only back feet lol. I think I have a chin spending addiction

 

[EmilyD]

Looks good! I've never seen all wood pans...I'll be interested to see how you like them in the long run. I'm planning on replacing my FN 141 with a 182 sometime soon but have been hesitating after reading that the new "no tools" assembly results in a loss of stability. But I see that it's described as being new and improved on the ferret.com site. Does yours feel like it holds together good when being moved about?

 

[koopashark]

We figure we'll have to replace them within the next 3-4 months but they fit the budget for right now. When we do replace them, I think we'll go with metal since those will be easier to clean and will be more durable in the long haul. I don't know how stable the 142's are but the 182 seems pretty stable. I just went into the other room and tried to shake it around, it moves a little bit but I wouldn't consider it to be unstable. I'm guessing the movement is just from it being so tall. I also wheeled it in to the other room the other day and it seemed okay when I was moving it. I'm sure the 142 is more stable since it screws together but this one was really easy to put together and seems sturdy enough to me!

 

[EmilyD]

Awesome, thank you! Really looking forward to ordering mine now.

 

[Brittany]

I don't know what tools you have, but you can clean wood with hydrogen peroxide or a vinegar/ water mix, then sand them down. I use my power sander on all the chin wood every 6 months or so, haven't destroyed a shelf yet. So you might be able to get a little more wear out of them if you keep up with the cleaning. Cage looks very nice so far!

 

[koopashark]

Unfortunately poor little Clark got his toe nipped during their cage within a cage intro. However, now they each have half of the FN and we were able to move them in! Both seem to love their new homes.

Can you find the chins??

 

[Lillybabe]

What about lining the bottom of the wooden pans with tile? That might get you a bit more time out of them then fleece? Or use extra layers of fleece so pee can't leak through to your lovely pans. This cage looks awesome. Look at the chinnie in the top level climbing the side. I love it when they do that, it's just too cute.