Soon to be Chin Owner :)

[CookieMonster]

I am hoping to get a baby chin in the beginning of Feb. but in the mean time i am looking for a nice cage for him or her. i ran into an ad on craigslit for this cage at a steal of a price i think lol i was wondering if with a few modifications as far as chin safe shelfs and goodies it would be a decent cage for my new chin pal. i just came across this forum yesterday and have been readind all sorts of awesome info i am hoping to cut out any mistakes first time owners make one of them being getting him a nice big cage so he will be super happy. So i am here seeking advice from the almighty know everything about chins clan

These are all the pics supplied by the seller it will be for one Chin only and he is selling it to me for $95 which i think is pretty cheap considering but I am a chin virgin so any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Laurie]

to me it appears to be plenty big enough. If you are using it for one of more chins make sure you have a bridge or something going across the middle. That is a long fall should a chin fall from the top.

 

[CookieMonster]

Yeah i was thinking i can go to home depot to get a a few planks of wood to add ledges and ramps and make it more chinchilla-y lol its a bird cage but when i saw it i thought with some help it could make a nice big chin mansion

 

[alli713]

I agree that it looks like it would work pretty well for a chin. I think one thing that doesn't look good would be if there's a wire grate on the bottom. If there is, it appears like the openings are pretty long, so a chin could get it's foot stuck in there and hurt itself. But if that comes out or there isn't one, it shouldn't be an issue. You might want to look into getting some custom metal pans made so the chin doesn't chew up the plastic base.

 

[Luci]

the cage looks very spacious for a chin! one thing that comes to mind though is that it seems as though most of the weight of the cage will be at the top. i only have one chin but on the days where he wall surfs, the cage moves quite a bit. just check on the stability of the cage when you go look at it.

and if its in good condition (no broken wires, no rust, etc), then yep, for $95 its a steal!

 

[CookieMonster]

i just got back from going to look and ended up getting it the cage is practically new it came with wire ramps and shelves that are going to be trashed pretty much since the spacing is all wrong and i feel they are too flimsy. the cage is stable the tray on the bottom is steel which is awesome and the gridded bottom does come off so i am thinking of maybe covering the bottom around the pan with some wood to prevent too much litter from flying out also i am gonna replace the screws on the bottom piece that holds the rest of the cage with some wood sculpting, fleece cozies and toys i think it will be perfect for a chin

Here are some pics i took of it close up you can click on them to get the big picture

 

[CookieMonster]

Quick update i took out all of the inside wire crapola and bought a plank of would at home depot with the screws which i had a hard time finding since i could remember the name of them lmao well all i need now is to cute the plank into a bunch of ledge pieces luckily for me my father in law works in construction and owns a saw because home depot wouldn't cut it smaller then 12 inches which i thought was way too big especially since dummy old me didn't measure the cage before i left can we say excited much i will post pictures soon as i get the wood plank cut and set up in the cage i cant wait Hubs was not to happy about me getting a chin but he has been very supportive lol & i know he is secretly enjoying fixing up the cage he saw pics of the awesome cages you guys have and was amazed now he wants to fix up the cage uber nice and is getting a little excited about getting a chin & of course Thank you all for the advice I am sooooo glad i found this forum total chin lifesaver

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Make sure you take the ramps and wire shelves out - they look dangerous- and if the wire bottom comes out I would use fleece liners directly on the bottom and have a litter pan rather than using shavings all over the bottom.

One thing to mention is that baby chins are very clumsy and they have thin bones. I would limit the height of the shelves initially and keep them all near the bottom until she gets a bit bigger to avoid falls. I always think "If I am a tiny daredevil humpty dumpty how could I get hurt in this cage?" and design from there!

 

[CookieMonster]

I wanted to use fleece liners but since i live in an apartment i do not have my own washer and dryer and they charge way to much to use the apt complex ones. 1.50 to wash and 1.00 to dry. not to mention the washers and dryers are uber tiny lol. so i was thinking of getting some wooden planks to put around the bottom inside to keep the shavings from flying out. I had not thought about the height issue for a baby chin i am thinking i will only be starting with may 2-4 ledges and putting them low. idk how small my chin will be when i get him so that is definitely something to think about and get ready for adjustments. Thanks for all the input you guys are seriously chin savers

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Have you considered tile? Someone cut tile to fit the bottom of their cage....cant remember who cause ive worked for 12hrs today...

 

[CookieMonster]

I had not i would be interested in seeing how that would be done. I had seen someone use a wood box type thing like what i mentioned which is why i was gonna take that route but i am open to try the best possible things for my chin to see what works.

 

[Chin_Up_Sunshine]

I remember Dawn's awesome cages have tile in them and I know I've seen others with tile, too...Steve? I'm thinking of switching to tile myself! The nice thing about tile is also it stays nice and cool. I wouldn't recommend the wood box for litter, since the wood will soak up urine stains. The nice thing about shelves is when they get icky you can sand them down and/or replace them. Also if you plan to put wood as a sort of edge around the bottom of the cage, remember it's going to get chewed on, so will need replacing. Have you considered a type of metal sheet instead to keep litter in?

 

[Essentia]

I used to have that same cage (though mine was the one door option, not the two smaller doors) when I only had one chinchilla. Here's how mine was set up.

The bar spacing is small enough that I didn't have too much bedding come out of the cage. I added a fleece wrap around on the bottom to keep even more inside.

 

[CookieMonster]

So glad to have you girls I had thought about the chewing but not the pee getting sucked up by the wood. & with my hubbys super smeller i definitely need to keep it as clean as possible. I am thinking fleece might be my best option after all. the set up with the fleece wrapped around Isn't a bad option either. How did you get that stay in place? I don't know about a sheet metal to wrap around i will have to ask my hubby since he is knows more about materials. I only plan on getting one but idk how messy he might be lol. is there any other material you can think of maybe i can put around the sides? those little chew-y butts have practically banned most everything lol

 

[CookieMonster]

Also i just took out the bottom grid above the poop pan and there is gap now in between the poop pan and the rest of the cage not big enough for escape but big enough for spillage hubs suggested using aluminum to go around the cage is this safe? if not i will have to keep thinking up of things i can do

 

[Essentia]

The fleece clipped to the side of the cage. While it didn't really get soiled or smelly I washed it once in awhile just in case.

 

[CookieMonster]

I have decided to go with the fleece method seems the simplest & safest solution. Easy to clean too without breaking my back eeeek I cant wait I get my chin next week.

 

[Sdo9396]

Congrats on getting your new chin!! I won't be able to get mine until March =( I wish I could fast forward the time!

 

[CookieMonster]

OMG me too a week is toooooo long I cant imagine a month or 2 eeek lol Saturday needs to hurry up.. I am waiting to hear from the breeder still to see which chins they have available its a 2 hour drive from my house so next Saturday is going to be a road trip for us

 

[CookieMonster]

So UPDATE lol This is what the cage looks like so far i am gonna be ordering the Hammocks and a Tent on tomorrow or tuesday and get some more wood let me know what you think of the spacing i wasn't to sure i got that right lol

Click for big picture