Any chance of adapting this cage for a breeding pair?

[Amphy64]

I'll be moving in a few months, so should finally be able to look at maybe having a couple more chinnies! As far as breeding goes, it's something I've been interested in for some time and have attended shows and talked with NCS breeders about it (which I'll continue to do), so it's not something I'd enter into lightly. I'll be at home so will have plenty of time to spend with them, too.

I'm just trying to plan ahead a bit, since at the moment I have the option of getting help with moving and setting up cages (otherwise it'll be me fighting to assemble stuff by myself).

I really like the look of these cages as a pet cage (with the ladders removed and wooden shelves added, of course):
http://www.online-garden-centre.com/sky-pets-x-trail-animal-cage.html

But obviously I can see it looks like a definite no-no for kits. (clearer pic. of bar spacing here: http://www.johnhopewell.co.uk/default.asp?template=productimage.page.xml&productid=362) Could it work for a pair if the top section were blocked, maybe the shelf removed, and with moving the female to a baby safe cage when necessary? (I don't mean right before the due date, or anything, that'd be cutting it a bit fine) I only wanted one pair, really, and was thinking of choosing an older female, so my first pair would eventually end up just as my pets anyway (not still caged together, obvs, unless the male had the snip).

Thoughts? )

 

[tunes]

Yes, if you split it in half so there is a top and a bottom then that's fine. Remove the shelf and the ramp, so neither mom or baby will fall. You also need to be careful with bar spacing. How wide apart are those bars spaced?

 

[Amphy64]

Thanks! ) Yeah, was worried about the spacing since it looked like it might be a bit big, it's apparently 1.5cm (just checked the manufacturer's site).

 

[CSquared]

That looks like a Feisty Ferret cage which is sold here in the US. I have used those for rescue mom / kits in the past. If it is the same cage you will need hardware cloth to cover the outside as the bar spacing is to wide.
When I used them I split them into two , bought custom metal pans from Bass Equipment (here in the US) and outfitted the outside with wire. Inside was all chin safe items.

 

[Amphy64]

Hmm, does sound like it might be feasible, then, thanks. )

Any particular method people tend to use to split cages, btw? I guess maybe if I added a wire layer over the top pan I could maybe even put a pop hole in, which could be handy.

 

[CSquared]

The FF cages I used already had a inside "piece" (for lack of a better word) that could be left in to make it two or taken out to make it a single cage. I called Bass Equip. gave them the measurements for two pans, and then set the one pan on the middle "piece" thus making two separate cages.
The FF cages are styled like Ferret Nation cages only with one door that opens and they have a smaller footprint (which is why I liked using them). Not sure if the one you are looking at has those features but it seems to from the photo.

 

[CSquared]

I also forgot to mention, the middle section does not have a cut out in the side like a Ferret Nation middle section. The cut out on a Feisty Ferret cage is in the middle of the piece which would make it very difficult to have a middle pan without separating the cages.