New Here - Cage and Setup Question

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Gabby88

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
478
Location
Sussex, WI
Hello!

I'm new here. I just purchased a cage. It's around 50 inches tall (I still need to clean it a little). I'm going to use fleece bedding for the bottom, but I wasn't sure what to do for the levels. Should I take them out completely and just put in wood shelves? Or should I keep the wire, and put fleece bedding on top?

Also, I'm unsure about the ramps. Are they necessary? I've seen some lovely cages here that just have different wood shelves and no ramps. If I take out the ramps completely and add some wood shelves spaced so the chinchillas could easily jump from one shelf to the next, would that work?

I don't have any chinchillas yet. I'm going to be purchasing two of them in around a month, and I want to make sure they will have the perfect setup first before I even get them home.

I still need to purchase a chin spin or flying saucer for their cage. I already have a fleece hammock, fleece hanging tunnel, glass food dish, glass water bottle, blue sparkle dust, bath house, and other essentials. So I'm almost already prepared. I only need to get some other little things. I already even have Oxbow timothy hay and orchard grass since I also have guinea pigs.

Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated! I want them to be very happy! I already love this forum!

cage-1.jpg
 
If the cage can support it, I would take out the ramps and the ledges and I would put in wood ledges. Chins don't need ramps. If you have a tall cage like that, you would be better off alternating shelves and hanging hammocks in case your chin should fall.
 
Thanks! That's what I was planning on doing. The ramps seem easy enough to take out. Should I keep the metal shelves and put fleece bedding on top? Or would wood shelves be better?

I know I don't want any metal showing. I think animals should never be stepping and sitting on wires, and I know it can cause bumblefoot.
 
If the cage is too flimsy without the shelves inside you can get pine cut to the same dimensions of the shelved and just cover the wire shelves with it. Take the ramps out though, and get a few smaller wooden ledges to put in between the other larger shelves so they don't have to jump as far.
 
I actually wouldn't recommend putting wood over the shelves. I did that here once and towards the back of the cage, where I couldn't see it, the chins chewed through the wood down to the wire. A weanling got her foot caught and ended up breaking her leg. I still have nightmares about finding her dangling. If you pull the wire out and put in a fitted piece of wood, it's as good as having the original shelves there.
 
I took both wired shelves and ramps out of the cage and basically rebuilt the inside with wooden shelves, i dont have any ramps. I did cover the wired shelves with fleece first but my chinnies were using it as a potty so the wood worked for me, i have lots of wooden shelves in my cage with lots of jumping room and i have hammocks and tunnels aswell :)
 
Ok!! I think I'll just use fleece for the bottom of the cage then. And I'll put wood shelves on top of the wire shelves and secure them. I'll also be taking out the ramps and putting some other smaller shelves around so they can hop from shelf to shelf.

Good suggestions! I know I'm impatient, and it's going to be a long month and a half before I get my chins, but at least it gives me plenty of time to prepare!
 
I actually wouldn't recommend putting wood over the shelves. I did that here once and towards the back of the cage, where I couldn't see it, the chins chewed through the wood down to the wire. A weanling got her foot caught and ended up breaking her leg. I still have nightmares about finding her dangling. If you pull the wire out and put in a fitted piece of wood, it's as good as having the original shelves there.

That's very scary to think about!! I think I'll just take out all of the shelves and ramps and put wood shelves in place of them. I wouldn't want to risk anything like that happening!
 
Any advice on how to get the wire shelves out? I think I just need better wire cutters. I thought pliers would work, but the metal just would not bend at all. The wire cutters work for cutting the shelves out, but they're too thick to cut the side wire rings holding it to the side of the cage. I'm having a very hard time getting them out! And I have hand cramps now. Haha!

I still have a few weeks before I'm getting my chinchillas so I have time, but I want to make sure everything is set and ready before I bring them home. :)
 
I would try pliers, you may be able to bend the metal off. I was lucky because i could just take my shelves out.
 
I tried pliers, but there's no way the metal is budging. I think I need to invest in some better wire cutters. I just hope the cage maintains its stability once I take all of the shelves out.

Also, do you guys think fleece is the best for the bottom of the cage? It has a wire mesh bottom and then a pull out tray. I don't want them to have to walk on the wire. I wish it just had a flat bottom pull out tray but sadly it does not.

And of course, after I bought this cage I've seen so many better ones for the same price. Now I feel like a sucker. Haha!
 
Fleece should be good for the bottom if you are going to have a tray of shavings to use as a litter box. I think the wire is okay as long as you have the wooden shelves and a tile or two for them to rest their feet on. I would think it would be hard to clean though, so I would do the fleece if it were my cage.

I know what you mean about wanting a different cage... I think I went through 3 before I got my Ferret Nation. Your cage is nice and big though, and definitely can look great when you're done fixing it up!
 
Yeah, I'll be putting a litter tray on the bottom. Should I fill it with kiln dried pine? I also have carefresh, but I've heard they eat it.

I ordered a lot of wood shelves to replace the wire ones. I think I'm getting 4 large shelves and 5 or 6 smaller ones. I also have a lava ledge.

:)
 
Back
Top