New FN Cage Owner

[Jill of Beans]

I love my new FN cage - and my 3 new boys love it too. I am using fleece liners - and am wondering, mainly because I never had a problem like this in other cages - HOW do you keep the droppings IN the cage? I honestly think that more than 70% of their droppings is outside of the cage.

I am a bird owner also, and this has got me to thinking - maybe a "seed catcher/guard" (not the mesh kind) that sticks out around the bottom of the cage at an angle might help to capture the droppings. I'm going to try and make one and see if this works.

If anyone has a method that already works - PLEASE SHARE it with me.

I'm attaching photos of bird cages with see guards.

 

[Stackie]

Are you using the plastic pans that came with the cage? If so, they are not near deep enough to keep poops in. I have bass pans from www.bassequipment.com and they help somewhat..but regardless you're ALWAYS going to have poo outside the cage.

 

[EveningChin]

I took tagboard and lined the exterior of the cage up to the first horizontal bars. I lined it up so they couldn't reach through and bite it and taped it onto the cage with Gorilla Tape. Its been fun watching the girls try to get to it this last week. Still no bite marks on the tag board, and the amount o' poo on the out wide of the cage has dramaticly decreased.

I really like the idea of the seed/poo guard though. Perhaps you could go to a local hardware/ building supply store and see about short peices rain gutters, the kind you put on your house and see if they could be applied in the same manner.

 

[Jill of Beans]

I think (and HOPE) this may be easier than I imagined...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8362

* Universal seed guard helps eliminate bird seed scatter
* Bird cage seed guard reduces the amount of cleanup
* Adjusts to fit almost any bird cage for simple cage installation

Now you can retrofit almost any bird cage with a seed guard "skirt" found on many deluxe models. Cut-to-size kit features high impact plastic side and corner pieces which slide together easily using a tongue and groove system. Works best with landing-style or slide-up doors. Measure widest side to determine appropriate model. Please specify Black or White. Some assembly required.

I may of course need to do some modifications, possibly - but we'll see - they have it in a size for up to 36 inch - which would be just a tad bit too long - but it said it's cut to size - and even though it's plastic - shouldn't it be okay around the chins???

 

[Sierrasmom97]

I took tagboard and lined the exterior of the cage up to the first horizontal bars. I lined it up so they couldn't reach through and bite it and taped it onto the cage with Gorilla Tape. Its been fun watching the girls try to get to it this last week. Still no bite marks on the tag board, and the amount o' poo on the out wide of the cage has dramaticly decreased.

I really like the idea of the seed/poo guard though. Perhaps you could go to a local hardware/ building supply store and see about short peices rain gutters, the kind you put on your house and see if they could be applied in the same manner.

Can you post a pic of yours? Thanks

 

[TillyChinchilla]

I think those cage skirts would interfere with the doors opening correctly. Consider fleece liners for an FN.

 

[Jill of Beans]

I think those cage skirts would interfere with the doors opening correctly. Consider fleece liners for an FN.

I am using fleece liners - but I think if I modify the guards somewhat it just MAY work...???

 

[CerLynn]

Similar to EveningChin, we made a "fence" of hardware cloth about 2-3" wide, and it works fairly well.

 

[alli713]

Here's another option that I'm making for someone, it's like those elasticized netting that you put on bird cages, but I'm making her a 3 sided fleece sleeve type thing with tabs on the ends. So it will wrap around the back and sides and clip to the front of the cage. She'll pull it tight so that it stays on. I don't know if that makes any sense but I don't have a picture of it..

 

[TillyChinchilla]

Oops! Missed the fleece mention in the first post.

These people will make metal pans up to 5" from what I last remember. Their quote wasn't bad at all for what I needed... if that is the direction you want to go. I think it would be a better investment than the skirts, and look nicer. For a size, give them what is on the Bass site.

http://www.mainecagefactory.com/

You can also try these guys, they have cages in feed stores all over the Northeast, and I know they make customs.

http://ma.citysquares.com/new-bedfo...al-trade/new-england-cage-company-75-david-st

 

[EveningChin]

Can you post a pic of yours? Thanks

Ok sorry for the bright light and the poor quality but it is a pic from my phone. You can see the white tagboard and the black tape on the OUTSIDE of the cage. The tape only went on the outside on the corner and bottom struts(?) so there is no way the chin can get to them. And the second picture is of Petra shoing why the top of the tagboard has to be lined up with the center horizontal bar. When you pull it tight and tap it too the sides it sits about 1/2 inch away from the bars and if they can't hook a tooth on it they can't chew it. The second pic was taken mid construction, she just wanted to help.

 

[Sugarmama]

I know of some people who glue a 1/2" thick piece of wood onto all their ledges, so they are "L" shaped. It helps keep the poo in. I'm not sure how tall they make it though.

 

[alpayton]

I know of some people who glue a 1/2" thick piece of wood onto all their ledges, so they are "L" shaped. It helps keep the poo in. I'm not sure how tall they make it though.

:laughitup: I'm some people....

I use a 1/2" quarter-round on all ledges that have any and all edges that backs up to the cage sides and glue it to the ledge. It provides a bumper of sorts for the poo to hit before coming flying out of the cage and onto the floor. It's helped tremendously.

I also have Bass Pans (2.5" high).

 

[sublime5981]

I'm "some people" too. :thumbsup:
I use 1/2" x 2" poplar from Lowes on my shelves. If I remember correctly it's called craftboard. I never really knew just how much of a difference it made until the girls chewed so much of it that I had to remove it. Wow! The poo on my floor is ridiculous now. I also use 1/4" x 3" for all around my wire cages.

 

[Essentia]

Here's another option that I'm making for someone, it's like those elasticized netting that you put on bird cages, but I'm making her a 3 sided fleece sleeve type thing with tabs on the ends. So it will wrap around the back and sides and clip to the front of the cage. She'll pull it tight so that it stays on. I don't know if that makes any sense but I don't have a picture of it..

This sounds almost exactly like what I made for my old cage. Let me see if I still have a picture.

Something similar to this, but that doesn't go around the front?

You can see it a little bit better in this picture.

BTW, this option worked very well for this cage. I could see it working pretty well on a FN as well. Please ignore the bare cage in the second picture and the crap food. This was right when I got Chula and didn't know any better.

 

[alli713]

yeah, like that! Except yeah, it will be open in the front and clips to the front bars. )

 

[feistychins]

I would not waste your money on the seed guards for bird cages. I have birds too and when they toss their food it can still go beyond the guard. I would think the higher shelves in the chin cage would allow poops to fly beyond them too.

 

[6Dusters]

I have just bought a FN with top and bottom that can be seperated. It's sitting in the box in the garage for anyone willing to stop by today and give me a hand. :rofl: Since the doors open on both levels, I was thinking of adding "Bass" pans that would be about 3 or 4 inches tall. I guess you could have them made to order. Anyone done this?