3 story FN

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SamiJami

SamiJami

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 11, 2010
Messages
445
Location
Salem OR
I'm looking to buy an FN for Ezio and Altair. But just a normal 2 story one would be only a tad bit bigger. So I want to do the 3 story. I want to have it entirely open since we go crazy with shelves. What models do I need to be looking at to accomplish this? Will I have to cut the top off of the 2 story to get the single one to go on? Please someone help me with this!!!

Thanks!
 
You can get an FN183. It's a 182 and 181 combined. Do you currently own a FN?
 
No, I have a feisty ferret. It's just a tad smaller than an FN, and only the right doors swing.

Edit : When I google "ferret nation 183" it doesn't show me the 3 story version. Just the 2 story with the bottom floor faded out. :hair:
 
I believe the 141/181 is the single story, the 142/182 in the double and the 143/183 is the add on. The roof of the 142/182 should come out if it is unscrewed just like the middle would. If your starting from scratch then you just don't put the cut out levels in. Hope this helps. I too would love to use the add ons to make my 142's into 3 levels.
 
The 183 is the add-on. If you want a 3 story cage you will have to buy a 182 and a 183.
 
smhluvsmh said:
I believe the 141/181 is the single story, the 142/182 in the double and the 143/183 is the add on. The roof of the 142/182 should come out if it is unscrewed just like the middle would. If your starting from scratch then you just don't put the cut out levels in. Hope this helps. I too would love to use the add ons to make my 142's into 3 levels.
Click to expand...

I suggest keeping the middle shelf with the cutout in the cage. 142's are no longer made and 182's do tend to sway more. I currently own both. The 180 series has minimal screws, if any. (I bought mine used)
 
smhluvsmh said:
I believe the 141/181 is the single story, the 142/182 in the double and the 143/183 is the add on. The roof of the 142/182 should come out if it is unscrewed just like the middle would. If your starting from scratch then you just don't put the cut out levels in. Hope this helps. I too would love to use the add ons to make my 142's into 3 levels.
Click to expand...

I feel like an idiot. I was thinking I'd have to saw out the metal. :banghead: All I'd have to do is not put it on. lol Thanks

Thank you, too, Cindy! I hope the sale is still on next month. We're moving 30 minutes away and I'd like to just set up a new cage for them.
 
cindyv3737 said:
I suggest keeping the middle shelf with the cutout in the cage. 142's are no longer made and 182's do tend to sway more. I currently own both. The 180 series has minimal screws, if any. (I bought mine used)
Click to expand...


Really?! :( I want to take all of them out and just shelf it do death, haha.
 
Do you like the feisty ferret cage at all? I know a woman that bought the necessary pieces to make her feisty ferret cage into a 3 story cage. Maybe that would save you some money.
 
The FN is big enough to still shelf it a lot in the three sections. Cages with no seperation though can be very dangerous. Chins can be clumsy and a slip or misjudged jump can really hurt or kill them. Especially in a three story! That will be very tall...
 
Lee said:
Do you like the feisty ferret cage at all? I know a woman that bought the necessary pieces to make her feisty ferret cage into a 3 story cage. Maybe that would save you some money.
Click to expand...

I like the FF a lot! But we have Zipper in a smaller cage. So I figured I'd give him that and buy the 3 story FN for my lil guys. Cage upgrades for all!
 
~Alex~ said:
The FN is big enough to still shelf it a lot in the three sections. Cages with no seperation though can be very dangerous. Chins can be clumsy and a slip or misjudged jump can really hurt or kill them. Especially in a three story! That will be very tall...
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I know it's very tall. Just like now, I have hammocks and large wooden shelves all over. You can't look straight down and see the bottom at all. Altair is an amputee so I'm very, very, very careful about there being lots of over-lapping.
 
You might want to just start with the 182 and see what you think when you get it. On the computer the FN doesn't look that much bigger than a Feisty Ferret, but I once saw them assembled side by side at a Petsmart, and the difference in size is staggering.
FN's are MASSIVE in person.
Tami's old aviary was (dimensionally) only slightly smaller than a Feisty Ferret, and look at the size difference between that and the Ferret Nation:
100_5441-1.jpg


You can always add another upper level later on if you think they really need all three.
 
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SamiJami said:
Really?! :( I want to take all of them out and just shelf it do death, haha.
Click to expand...

I have a three-level FN. I wanted to take the middle dividers with the cut-outs out, but I chose to keep them in. Your chinchilla could easily fall and hurt themselves. After seeing my chinchillas play around in their cage for almost six months now, I am glad I kept them in. I have seen a few falls that would have been very dangerous if I had taken the dividers out.
 
I had my FN with all three levels for a while to save space as we live in an apartment and I had two girls that lived in the top level and three girls that lived in the bottom two it was a NIGHTMARE to clean. That cage is HUGE and super tall with the add on! to clean the top shelves in the back I had to use a ladder. Just something to think about.
 
If you do go for the 3 level FN... I'd advise not putting on the storage at the bottom. Just sit it on the floor... or prop it up just a little somehow. A three level FN is going to be very close to the ceiling. Just the 2 level is over 6 foot. I am 5' and I have to stand on tippy toes and stretch my arms way out to attach things to the top of the cage. Cleaning off the top of my little cube house is a challenge as well. Not only is the cage tall... it's deep. So when you have the doors open you have to reach waaaaay back to adjust things at the top. My girls have more than enough room in the double level. They were just in the top portion until they were 3 months and it was still plenty of room. The FN cages are massive. I am not sure how you would even get a chinchilla out if it was on a top ledge in a three level FN. Also keep in mind the tall spacing in bars... it's like 3 inches. This is very limiting for where you can place shelves and things. You may not be able to overlap as much as you want to. Also, I can't imagine 3 levels worth of poop and pee all on the bottom of 1 pan. My girls pee so much that I think it'd get stinky quick if I only had 1 pan.
 
You can put the wheels directly into the bottom level and skip the under cage shelving, that makes it more accessible at the top for cleaning.

This is my friend Aimee's "Wall O' Chins" and I think it's amazing! She calls it The Hollywood Squares, lol.
Hollywoodsquares.jpg


(She has large cardboard dividers in between to prevent nipped fingers and toes.)
 
I thank all of you for your thoughts.

I have seen a 3 level high cage in person, a friend owns one. The way I see it is that Altair and Ezio have been in the Feisty Ferret the entire time I've owned them, and Zipper has been in the cage he has. Zipper will get a huge upgrade going to the FF, and I want to give Altair and Ezio a huge upgrade as well. The normal 2 story FN just isn't my idea of a great upgrade. I have thought about it being harder to reach them, and therefore possibly putting the cut out part between the top and middle cage.

SO to go over points made:
-They could fall
--True, but I have great practice putting in lots of big shelves, and smaller ledges for my guys. I've also already ordered hammocks that would make it so they'd have to weave down anyway. Their current cage is set up, as stated prior, that you can't even see the floor because I have so much over lapping.

-It's tall, need a ladder to clean
--Got one, and it doesn't bother me any. I've also talked to my fiance and he's fine with it.

-Not putting the storage on + bar spacing
--I had wondered if you could skip that or not, figured I would find out when we got it. As for bar spacing, I think the FF is about the same as the FN. We make do very well, not an issue.

I hope that answers that well enough, that I've actually thought about this and do have some idea on what to do. Feel free to bring up other points.
 
The wheels on the bottom of the cage without the storage shelf!!! Why didn't I think of that!
 
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