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Lexillo

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
7
Location
Houston
Hi guys!
I recently got my chinchilla at the beginning of the new year. He's now 10 months old. He's happy, active, playful, but so extremely loud.
I understand that chinchillas will ALWAYS make noise. (I have a hedgehog who use to be so noisy until I did research and changed his cage a bit. He now doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night because the noise is moderate.)
I can't seem to figure out what's best for a chinchilla though.
His wheel is not a problem. It make's just as much noise as my hedgehogs.
I purchased a cage from Petsmart by the brand "All Living Things". When he hops around the metal tends to be extremely loud and disruptive. He has fleece at the bottom and it's three stories.
Are there cages that can absorb the shock of his hops better to be less noisy? Ir read ferret nation can help this, but I don't want to spend $200 if it's ultimately the same thing; or is it best to find a blueprint online and build a home for him out of wood?
 
The most noise I get from my ferret nation cage is mostly from the wheel rattling the cage. It's a pretty solid cage, what tends to rattle the most is the doors. I've put strips of fleece in the holes were the doors latch into the frame, which helps prevent or at least muffles any rattle. The cage itself doesn't make noise when they are just hopping around the cage, it's all the cage accessories that rattle, the chew toys, hammocks (the hardware), ect (My cage for an idea of how much moving/rattling stuff). If you keep the plastic pans in the FN you do need to cover them so the chin doesn't chew them. If you decided to invest in metal pans, put a sheet of fleece under the pans to avoid the metal on metal clanking.

Some people have gone the route of making their own cage, but keep in mind that wood will absorb pee over time. Also the chin will chew on the wood so it has to be safe to chew on. For an animal that can live 15-20 years or more, you will likely have to build at least a couple cages over it's life. I'm not saying not to go that route if you want to, just that personally I see it as too much work.
 
There's a YouTube video showing how to noise proof the ferret nation cage which is the same as the all living things that petsmart sells. Actually the critter nation is the same but that's the same as the FN except for 1/2" bar spacing.

I followed the steps and my FN cage is almost silent. The biggest thing was using number 8 screw protectors on the floor shelves that protrude into the frame. You'll have to dismantle the entire cage to do it but it's so worth it. This eliminated most of the noise immediately. Do it for the two levels. I ordered 40 #8 screw protectors online for around $13 shipped. I got black and you can't even notice them at all.

I use the bass pans so the next thing I did was cut a large piece of cardboard out and placed it under both floor pans. And finally, I purchased brown felt sliders for underneath chair legs and put them on the cage where the doors make contact. You have to be VERY careful to ensure the door pins slide all the way up and lock due to the extra pressure but it keeps the doors from rattling.

Other than that just ensure everything in the cage is good and tight. The only noises I hear from my little guy is the soft thump of him jumping around all the home made ledges I made!
 
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