Off the Walls!

Kaiya · Jul 31, 2010

Hello all!

I've had an FN for a few months now and finally got the chance to customize it! I took out the original shelves and replaced them with wooden shelves, fleece tubes and ledges! Also added the fleece liners at the base of the cage. *Is now addicted to fleece* It's so much easier to maintain and looks great! The cage as a whole is so much better then it was.

Here's my problem, my youngest, Aiden, loves it even more then I do. He gets so excited about all his new toys he starts racing around his cage. Jumping up and down the ledges, just bouncing all over the place! He gets so worked up after a point he starts bouncing off the sides of the cage, which most of you know are all wires. Is this dangerous? He has already lost a toe due to extreme behavior with wires. I'm worried he could hurt himself more seriously then he already has. All my chins get about an hour of playtime a day. Is that not long enough? Is it just temporary because of the change? Any information you guys could give me is much appreciated! Thanks guys!

alli713 · Jul 31, 2010

I'm sure he's excited about the change in environment. But I don't know that there's much you can do about him wall surfing in his cage.

Ash · Jul 31, 2010

If you're worried about him hurting himself by getting caught, you can wrap the cage in hardware cloth that is too small for his feet to get through, but you would probably need to do it from the inside.

KristinC1983 · Aug 1, 2010

Lol, when you said your youngest, for some reason I thought an actual human child, lol! I thought your actual human son was excited, but then caught on!

My chin does the same thing-going crazy when I go in to say goodnight to him! His cage is made of wire cloth. I can hear him doing it when I'm not it the room, too, so he's not just excited to see me. With the wire cloth, I think it's a little harder for them to catch a toe in the wire (only 1/2" x 1/2" spacing), but it still scares me. I just cross my fingers and pray he doesn't hurt himself.

It's probably just your chin liking his 'new' cage. Fleece is soft and wood is softer! It's totally normal! You could try wrapping wire cloth in the inside, but I would not. FN cages I hear are great cages-I've never heard of a chin getting hurt on one and I've done tons and tons of research.

If you want to try to calm him down a little, maybe give HIM and his cage mates a little more time out of his cage each night and try to really tire him out. If you don't have a wheel, of course add one or 2, which may help a lot (I just bought a Chin Spin which comes highly reccomended).

Good luck!

Sandi · Aug 1, 2010

FN cages I hear are great cages-I've never heard of a chin getting hurt on one and I've done tons and tons of research.

Not true. A chin CAN get hurt in any cage including an FN. There have been a few instances where one of their legs have gotten caught in a spacing between the pan and the bars also depending on how you have set up the cage, they can take a fall and hurt themselves.

To the OP, I too think it just might be the newness of the cage. When I redecorate my boys' FN's they get a little excited exploring the new setup. If you have the middle section removed, I would try to make sure that you have it covered with several ledges or a hammock in the middle to absorb a fall. I too recommend a wheel if they don't have one and an hour of outside playtime is more than enough, you don't want a chin to get to that point of exhaustion and overheating, that isn't good either.

Kaiya · Aug 1, 2010

Thanks for all the advice, guys! I'm working on getting a chin spin, times are hard on my wallet. It took a lot for me to get an FN and what i have in it right now. But my chinnes are so much happier it was worth every penny!

He seems to be doing a lot better now. I'm thinking now he was just overwhelmed. I am a paranoid mommy, lol.

Would it be too much to much to ask a second question? I just got fleece liners and am in love! But i was unaware they got dirty so fast. I cleaned out my cage one/twice a week before, but the fleece seems to get dirty faster. How many liners do you recommend? I have my FN split in half. I have my 2 girls on the bottom and 3 boys on the top.

Sandi · Aug 2, 2010

I would say 2 sets of liners minimum for each cage, that way you have one set ready to put in when you are taking the dirty one out to wash. Chins don't "need" a wheel and you already give them 1 hour of playtime a day, so if he's calming down now you could wait on the wheel.