Wire or Wood cage?

[MollyAnne]

I'm hearing alot of stuff about chin cages, and i was planning on buying a wire one, but i have heard that if the ramps are wire their feet could get stuck, i plan on putting fleece liners on the teirs and bottom of the cage. Should i stay with my plan, or change to a wood cage?:hmm:

 

[ChinnyMom]

it is easy to change out the wire shelves to kiln dried pine shelves. if you look in the DIY section here on the forum, there is a tutorial on how to make your own wood shelves. it's pretty easy.

many different cages come with wire shelves. which one were you planning on? a picture of it would help us determine whether it's a safe and appropriately sized cage.

as for ramps, chins don't need them at all. they can jump from ledge to ledge with ease if the ledges are spaced correctly in the cage.

 

[MollyAnne]

http://www.amazon.com/Medium-Levels...UTF8&coliid=I3O5HZOG3TOGFU&colid=L59GA4SGW7FU
this is the cage i was thinking about buying

 

[Baron Sciarri]

That's not really the right cage for a chin imo...there are a lot of chinchilla/rodent cages with trays on the bottom that slide out that you can line with whatever you want and then your chin doesn't have to live on the wire and you can switch out the bedding easily...as for the shelves you would either have to replace them or cover them with something and just from looking at it the bars on the side of the cage look a bit too close together for typical chin cage and they look pretty thin...here's a link to the first cage i got

http://www.petco.com/product/113065...Indoor 4 Level Hutch Small Animal Cage-113065

i attached this to the easy living playpen to give my chin more area to run around and do things...i've read that my cage is too tall so you might want to find something that's only 2 feet tall instead of 3 feet...but the 7/8 inch spacing on the bars and being thicker will be better in the long run...

the biggest issue i see with the cage you linked is that it's the wrong cage in just about every way and it's not a very low price...

 

[MollyAnne]

http://www.petco.com/product/113066...Indoor 3 Level Hutch Small Animal Cage-113066
What do you think of this one?

 

[Lillybabe]

With both petco cages listed I would worry about whether once you removed the wire mesh at the bottom if the chinchillas would be able to push out the tray and escape. Also those little doors in the center are going to make the inside of the cage a bear to organize and clean. I think many of the best cages cost around $180-250 but I think they are typically worth the price if you find the right one. Ferret Nations for example will last a very long time if they are taken care of. As for a cage being "too tall" I wasn't aware that I cage could be too tall. Chinchillas like to jump. So long as you have some kind of barrier at about the midway point to keep your chinchilla from falling the full height of the cage they are perfectly safe. Several people use hammocks or long shelves to span the middle of a Ferret Nation cage after they pull out the middle pan and mesh.

 

[ChinnyMom]

i personally would not buy any of the cages linked in this thread. the doors are much too small to make cleaning easy - main point for me.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Tried staying under $150 for you, since I'm not sure what you are willing to spend...

But what about this one...
http://www.ferret.com/item/feisty-ferret-home/600999/

For a bit more money you can get the Ferret Nation.

 

[Pooky125]

I had the 4 floored version of the petco one you listed for my boys for a while. This one. I found it to be far to small for 2 chins, but I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving just one chin in there either. Also, the floor is entirely wire, with holes that aren't chinchilla safe, and if you pull out the wire tray, and just leave the plastic one, they can pop it out in about 40 seconds. It doesn't fit in there terribly well. I will say I did like the doors however.

The general consensus, is the minimum sized cage you should be looking for for one chin, is 2' x 2' x 3', though some will argue even that is a little on the tight side.

I was in a similar situation as you a few months back. I ended up building my own cage when I couldn't find something of an acceptable size for the money I had. Took some time, but I'm pretty pleased with it. My $150-200 budget got me a cage 5 feet wide, 5 feet tall, and 2 feet deep. Mind, my budget included hand made shelves, perches, hammocks, hay bags, and liners. Might be something to consider.

 

[Terbear24]

I like the wire cages and then adding wooden shelves and just making it your own! Although I do have wooden cages that my husband and I built. If I had the money to do it I would have all ferret nation cages!