Out-of-cage Play Space

[hollowstar]

Where do you guys play with your chins other than in their cage? We do a lot of dust baths in the bathroom, but we just moved and our new bathroom is *tiny*. Any suggestions for ways to block off areas of the living room around their cage, other than using cardboard? I am always on the hunt for something quick and easy to assemble and disassemble, but none of the animal pens I've found are tall enough!

 

[gella]

There's a poll over in the polls section with lots of descriptions of out cage playtime techniques. Some people use a ferret playpen (metal wire fold up one) with the top on to keep escapes from happening because they aren't terribly tall. I think that (topless) + an extra cardboard 'border' might work out nicely.

 

[Brandon]

Puddles&Chubbs made a really tall playpen out of cardboard but she swears by it. She got the huge slabs of cardboard from papermart.com I believe.

 

[amsue0222]

I use a playyard made for babies and I just use a big long quilt to cover it, they jump but can't get out. I was thinking about making an elastic fleece cover for it so I don't have to worry about the blanket falling off.

 

[Megan]

When I first got the chins I used the bathroom. When I graduated to a "chin room" and still gave playtime, they were allowed out in their chin-proofed room.

I currently do not give playtime...unless someone decides to escape and help themselves to playtime =)

 

[starleomach]

I use the bathroom when they get playtime...not as often anymore but still the bathroom

 

[partygirlha]

the cardboard play pens that Puddles has are great. they fold up flat and are very fast to set up and put away. Take a look at the set up.

 

[Dusty&Zia]

I've been debating weather or not I should invest some money in a playpen. Dusty has been chewing up my bedroom (not too bad yet), and I want it to stop. I don't want anything harmful to be ingested. I hope the playpen will work. Gotta do more research.

HOWEVER, for the time being, Zia has a little hallway that she plays in, and Dusty has my bedroom. The only things he chews on are my bead and partially the wall (I always have to tell him no). It's going to stop as soon as I get a playpen OR lots of cardboard.

 

[Jenn]

I use two playpens hooked together to make one big playpen. Right now I don't have cardboard sheets attached for added heigth and so far Tinkerbell hasn't tried to escape, but I will be attaching cardboard sheets to it for added security. She loves her playpen.

 

[Mystic]

I use a ferret playpen I got from ferret.com it works well as long as your chin isn't a high jumper. I believe the height of it is only about 2.5-3ft high.

 

[Ashley]

I use a homemade cardboard playpen. You can order the panels from almost any shipping supply website. You just tape the panels together, and voila! The panels fold up very easily for storage, so you can slip them away after playtime.

 

[6Dusters]

Someone had a smart idea and posted this site to order large cardboard to put together. So I book marked it. I have a metal pen but would like something larger. So here is the site. http://www.papermart.com/templates/06-0-73.htm#GO_06078

 

[Puddles&Chubbs]

here's the pic of the one I made and have been using:

And here's the link to the thread about it with specifics:

playpen

Just a couple days ago it got it's first "tear" in it from falling over as I was folding it back to put it away. It fell right on the corner of the desk and split the tape at the bottom. First time I've had to so anything to it in over 2 years so I think that's pretty good.

 

[hollowstar]

Thanks! :hearts:

I just moved and still have lots of boxes, so I may do something like that. One of our girls is a *major* jumper - I have seen her jump off of doorknobs and onto our bathroom counter in one leap - so most of the normal pens are out of the question. I'll post pics if I get something good going!