No pill fleece liners

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JellytheChin

Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2021
Messages
9
I just got my first chinchilla this past week. After lots of research I decided to use fleece. Today I was sewing some liners and I relized that because of the cage I have its very difficult to get the "pillowcase" style of liners on and off the trays. Since the trays have 3 snaps to the metal bars on each side and each floor has 2 trays. I am looking for ideas oh how else I could use liners. I will attach a picture of the cage I have.
 

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I had a similar style of platform in my old cage. I just cut the fleece to size, making them slightly wider than the platform, so I could wrap the fleece around the sides a bit, then used metal binder clips to secure them to the platforms. It worked great, I never had any issues with my chin pulling up the fleece.

That said, if I were you, I'd consider getting a different cage at some point in the not-so-distant future. It looks like that cage has an awful lot of plastic, which usually doesn't mix so well with chins. It can really harm their digestive tracts if they naw off a jagged piece large enough to get stuck or cut up their insides. :( It also looks like they'd be able to chew right out of the bottom of they had a mind to.

If you can't or don't want to get a new cage right away, you could always remove the plastic platforms and tunnels and replace them with wood ledges, perches, and platforms. Then you could cover the whole plastic bottom in fleece, which would hopefully deter your chin from chewing it. Next best thing would be to cover the platforms and plastic bottom in fleece and remove the plastic tunnels.

Can your chin even use those tunnels? It's hard to tell the size from the picture, but they look like they'd be too small for an adult chin, and I'd worry about them getting stuck inside. They're also not safe at all to chew, so if possible, I'd recommend just removing them. If your chin can't get between the levels without the tunnels, you could buy some wood ramps or something to use instead.
 
I do plan on getting a new cage in the future. I was hopping to get a critter nation but amazon was sold out when I bought the cage. But since I spent quite a bit of money on this one I was hoping to get atleast some use out of it.

Thanks for the idea on binder clips. I will definitely have to try that and see how it works.

The tunnels are definitely pretty big. Right now hes only about 3-4 months old and he still has plenty of room to fit tho depending on how big he gets as an adult they may be to small.
 
Yeah, they're probably all right for a kit, but I feel like my big chonky girl would get stuck, haha.

If you leave the tunnels in there, just be sure you're frequently checking them for chew marks. If he starts to chew them, you should really remove them for his safety. You could replace them with wood ramps, or attach a couple small wood platforms to the side of the cage like steps so he can reach the access holes in the platforms.

There's a website called Chinsurfers that makes all sorts of safe wood accessories for chins, including a variety of platforms. The smallest little round ones make great little steps: Chinchilla Set of 4 Round Ledges | ChinSurfers
 
Blargh, I just noticed that the little round ledges are sold out on Chinsurfers. Bummer! If you don't want to wait, I'm sure you could find something similar on Etsy, Amazon, or Chewy.

Oh, and congrats on your new baby! :)
 
Blargh, I just noticed that the little round ledges are sold out on Chinsurfers. Bummer! If you don't want to wait, I'm sure you could find something similar on Etsy, Amazon, or Chewy.

Oh, and congrats on your new baby! :)
Thank you so much for the help.
 
Even if you cover the tubes in fleece to prevent chewing, unless the tubes are at least 6-8" wide I would just remove them. Chins aren't as flexible as other rodents and ferrets so I'd worry the chin might fall down the tube wrong (like sideways) and get stuck. You can just get ledges for the chin to use to get up through the levels.

Aside from the binder clips, in case they don't work since some chins do pull them off, or maybe in addition, you can try tying the fleece to the bars. When you cut the fleece just cut strips on the corners so you can tie it to the cage.
 
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