Opinions Needed!! Wire Cage Vs. Wooden Cage

[riceball347]

My boyfriend is going to build me a chinchilla cage for my little orphaned baby. He has built a previous cage out of wire and wooden shelves but I would LOVE your guys' input.

We are thinking of doing another all wire cage (with wooden shelves and slate tiles for resting and cooling off) and a plastic bottom made from a cement mixing tub...

OR

We were going to built it completely out of wood except for the front would be make primarily out of wire for viewing purposes and ventilation. I even thought about buying an old Armoire and sanding it down (to get rid of the paint) and building Bokie's cage out of that (removing the front panels to the doors and replacing it with wire)

Has anyone here built a cage and had success with either type? Is there something I should be worrying about that I am not assessing for?

Thanks everyone! Have an awesome day! :thumbsup:

 

[Carol~Anne]

I have both wire cages with pine shelves as well as a wooden cage with pine shelves and a melamine cage with pine shelves. One of the wire cages is a custom built one and was put together when it arrived here. The others are homemade cages that my husband built and now that I've had time to compare which ones I like the best, I'm going to have to say that I like the the melamine cage with pine shelves.

This type of cage is very easy to clean b/c the melamine is white and I can see where the stains are and it cleans up super easy. The front doors are made out of mesh in a pine frame and they open up really wide which makes accessing the cage really convenient. Most of the time I just open one door unless I'm doing a whole cleaning.

I also like the mesh doors b/c when the other boys are out of cage for playtime, they can visit through the mesh without being nipped by the boys inside the cages. That being said, my one little guy Rupert did jump on the mesh a while back and did a Spiderman stunt and he did get his toe nipped even though the mesh spacing is tiny so now I do put a piece of cardboard up against the cages so it doesn't happen again.

The two wire cages that I have, have been completely surrounded by cardboard b/c the spacing is much larger than the mesh and there's plenty of room for noses and toes to fit through there and get nipped. I find this to be a bit of pain always having to deal with rearranging the cardboard all of the time.

If I can't get two of my boys to pair up then I have the material on hand for another cage and it will be made out of white melamine with pine shelves and a mesh door. It will be smaller than the one I already have b/c my space is limited, but it will still be nice and tall and will probably have just one door instead of two. This new cage will house one chin only.

My whole space issue 'might' be solved soon b/c just this morning my husband and I were talking about putting on a new deck at the back of the house and closing it all in, insulating it and making me a brand new chin room that would be at least twice as big as the room I'm using right now. That would be so awesome!

 

[Carol~Anne]

Figured since I have my Photo Bucket open I'd post a pic so you can see the melamine cage I like the best. The cage on the right is the wooden one but has a melamine addition on top. The new cage that I'm planning on building if need be will be about the same width and depth as the one on the right but a bit shorter.

Should also add that depending on the thickness of the melamine, these types of cages can be very heavy and if you want to move them you need two people and a dolly. Both these cages that I have are pretty much permanently there until the day I absolutely have to move them.

 

[riceball347]

HOLY MOLEY your cage set up is FANTASTIC! I am completely envious and when my boyfriend gets home, he will be hopefully willing to copy your design. It looks so clean and definitely would allow Bokie space to roam around and keep entertained.

Do you know much you spent trying to build these cages? I'm on a tight budget (I'm in college) so any info on that would be fantastic!

I have a closed in porch that allows me to house my animals and I'll tell you now that it is amazing! So if you and your husband are up in the air about that, I can tell you from experience that having an insulated close off porch was the best thing that's ever happened to my adult chinchillas! It's nice and clean and a GREAT space for them to run around outside of the cage without me worrying about them chewing stuff up because it is completely chin-proof!

 

[starleomach]

I have wood and wire cages, that my husband built I absoulutly love them. they have cement mixing pans in the bottom. It didn't cost a lot to make them the really big chinchilla hotel as we call it was about 300 in parts but would be a lot cheaper if it didn't light up.

 

[riceball347]

Wow those are pretty impressive! I'm assuming that you breed chinchillas? I breed but on a very small scale hehe

Do either of you have issues with the chinny's chewing up the wooden frames? Have you guys had to replace any of the structural supports for the cages you built?

I love the cement mixing tub idea! I actually use the largest cement mixing tub for my adult chins but not as a pull out, it's the base. I wish I would have thought about that!

 

[Maia]

My chin has only had his pine and mesh cage for about 2 months and he's already tried to eat his way out of it. the mesh is stapled all the way down inside where the cage panels meet, so there's no way he's escaping, but he's trying his best anyway!! I'm guessing that your chinchillas will chew their cage to some extent, but nothing too serious.

 

[starleomach]

I have not yet had to do anything with the frame work (knock on wood) but Marshall has done a great job of making it so they can't get to that or the edge of the pans to chew or the light/wiring

 

[ticklechin]

I have all wood cages and LOVE LOVE LOVE them, big doors, easy to clean since the floors are all tile and they contain hay and poo well.

 

[Carol~Anne]

The melamine cage with the wide pine shelves, pine framed doors with mesh which measures about 5' tall X 4' wide X 2' deep cost approximately $150. Canadian.

 

[ChinDaddyFL]

The important thing to remember with making your cage is to plan it out, make sure you have the right tools, plan it again, and go slow when building. If you do it right, the chinnies will have no 'purchase' to start chewing on the inside (shelves are another matter!) and it will be very stable and safe.

That being said, even if you put it on casters/wheels expect a large wooden cage to be a stationary piece of furniture. They get HEAVY, real fast.

Also, make sure there's adequate ventilation. A door that's almost entirely mesh on a wood frame is fine as long as the room has airflow (ceiling fan or a good ac vent blowing by--but not into--the cage). If possible, you might want to consider making a ceiling "window" with a mesh vent (think of it like a fixed door) to further improve ventilation and weight, but it might not be necessary.

 

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reply to Carol~Anne: can you email me your cage plans if you don't mind? you cages are fantastic!!me and my dad were thinking of building my chinchilla a new cage (she definitely needs a better cage, because her previous owners didn't give us a very nice wooden cage 'the floor isn't in very good shape and her cage is kind of small, its hard to get any toys in there since the cage is wooden on the sides and the back, and she has been in the same cage for 6 years apparently and I'm not even sure if they used untreated wood or not') she is so sweet and definitely deserves a better cage, its super hard to find instructions on how to build a wooden cage online,and its hard to find a wooden cage for sale online.Your cage i the best i have ever seen!

thanks for reading my long message!