Pros and Cons of Removing Middle Shelf in FN142?

[Annieo]

I'm thinking of removing the middle shelf in my FN142 and I'm wondering the pros and cons.

I went through the bazillion pages of the FN Nation Club thread and saw all the beautiful set-ups, some with the middle shelf in, some without.

I see that I should provide an emergency fall hammock of sorts but other than that, anything I should consider before I make some more shelves and remove the middle level?

Would appreciate opinions, suggestions and potential pitfalls.

Thanks.

 

[menagerie]

I left the middle in. I don't want to risk the possibility of a 4 ft fall. I know some people say to put in ledges and hammocks to "break the fall", but I see that could do much more damage as they could be hitting and bouncing off a lot of things on the way down.

 

[Annieo]

Thanks Menagerie. On a side note, I'm in San Diego too. Didn't realize you were with Wee Companions! I adopted my darling hamster Hannie (aka Charo) from you but she has since passed. Great work. Thanks for all you do.

 

[Chinwawa]

I specifically went with FN142 and middle shelf for safety. Also, I like the height of the middle shelf for conversations with my bubs while I am standing at the cage. Much easier to interact.

 

[Saffron]

We kept the middle shelf for safety, plus it gives more floor space for houses (one house per chin eliminates the bickering when one doesn't want to share space), toys, marble slab etc.

 

[lilchinchilla]

Please keep the shelf in. Someone I know last month, who took the shelf out, had their chin fall the entire height of the cage. They found him around midnight with his back broken at the bottom of the cage. He was put down due to it. They are now putting in the middle shelf now so that it doesn't happen again to their other boy.

 

[Annieo]

Ya know, I feel silly. I I was for some reason under the impression that most had the middle shelf out. I'm more than happy to keep that middle shelf in especially having hearing the feedback.

Thanks everyone.

 

[GorillaJTA]

In addition to the safety factor- I look at it somewhat as a cosmetic issue, because the more shelves- the more scattered poop. I have the middle level in with raised edge pans, and they don't allow poop to fly like shelves do.

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

thank you for asking this. i wondered the same thing and now im not going to take the middle shelf out for my future chinny. thanks

 

[ahappycamper]

Personally, I find that keeping the middle shelf allows for a lot more room and toys. They can't jump as high but if you set the cage up in a way where you can utilize all vertical space, then they should have no problems with vertical height congestion. I just try to picture the middle shelf as just one huge jumping ledge. Keeping the middle shelf in also definitely allows for more ground space. Like someone said, you can more tunnels or tubes with the middle shelf in.