Bass Pans: Worth the money?

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
pinkpiggy1989

pinkpiggy1989

'No they're not bunnies'
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
157
Location
baltimore, maryland
I have 2 Ferret Nations and 1 Critter Nation. I originally used the original pans and used Care Fresh for bedding. Then when I learned about impaction, I switched to pine. Shortly after the switch, my guys began chewing on the plastic pans. I then switched to fleece liners. This worked for several months up until recently, when my guys started chewing holes in the fleece. It seemed like they all started at the same time, even the one caged separately. For the past few weeks, I have been using a think type of plastic material (with no raised edges to be chewed) but somehow the chins on the bottom managed to lift the floor of the top just long enough for one of the others to grab an edge and start chewing. :banghead:

So I'm absolutely out of ideas, and then I remembered Bass Pans. I got so excited and was ready to place an order... until I saw the price. Not too expensive but a bit pricey for a litter pan. Plus to make matters worse, I'll need 3! Including shipping and everything it will be around $90 for all 3 pans. If I get the pans, I was planning on going back to the pine shavings as well.

My question is, are they worth the money? And do they do a pretty decent job of keeping the bedding INSIDE the cage instead of all over my floors? I was also thinking of getting plexiglass and making a flat floor, but that would be the same price(if not more!) than just purchasing the Bass Pans.
 
1) you can make your own pans, maybe out of melamine or something.
2) you can buy wood pans, from Whimsy here I think. You'd have to replace it once it got too chewed or dirty.
3) you can see if anyone around you sells pans and can make them there so you won't have to pay shipping.

If all those aren't options, Bass is really your only choice. To be honest, I have to sweep at least once a day when Chloe is in her FN so my room is presentable if people come over. But there isn't a better pan I have found.

I'd say you should look into making a melamine one. I think that would be awesome, and then you could sell them even, if you got good at it. Just make sure the edges are smooth, no chips or wood showing. There's some melamine tape stuff you can cover edges with, using an iron. They would be heavy, but cheaper than Bass pans (probably by about half)
 
Think of it this way, pay $90 now for the pans or potentially pay vet expenses from impactions due to chewing.

I use the pans with fleece liners. Poop still flies out, so I imagine shavings would too. But it's better contained than no pans at all..
 
Sorry, skimmed the remainder of the post, but based on your title I can answer: yes. IMO the Bass pans are completely worth it!
 
Those are the correct pans. I have liners and a litter pan in mine. I love them. Granted I still find poop and hay on the floor. It's better than a vet bill.
 
cindyv3737 said:
Those are the correct pans. I have liners and a litter pan in mine. I love them. Granted I still find poop and hay on the floor. It's better than a vet bill.
Click to expand...

Agreed! My biggest issue isn't the poops on the floor, they can easily be swept in a matter of minutes. With having the plastic sheets on the bottom, a few would refuse to use their little pan and back up in a corner and urinate, and it would drip down onto the floor. I constantly woke up to puddles every single morning!
 
The bass pans are completely worth it. I use them with fleece liners. To help with poo flying, make sure to get ledges with the backboard it catches a ton of poo and keeps them off my floors lol
 
Sandi said:
Interesting. What do you use for bedding? If the plastic pans were not completely covered in fleece, my boys would get at them and chew the crap out of them in seconds.
Click to expand...

I use fleece on the shelves and the top floor (fleece under the edge of the metal sides, then clipped to the pan with binder clips)
and aspen on the bottom level. The way the edges clip on, there isn't a corner for them to get to

To be fair, these girls were in this cage with no siding for 6+ months and there's no chew marks on the pans, so they're not into chewing plastic anyway. The siding is because I was going to :hair: if I kept finding shavings tracked all over the house...
 
What material are the bass pans made out of and how high are the sides? Wondering if DH could be sweet talked into making a set for Hayley's cage but with higher sides to better contain the poo?
 
caiti said:
1) you can make your own pans, maybe out of melamine or something.
2) you can buy wood pans, from Whimsy here I think. You'd have to replace it once it got too chewed or dirty.
3) you can see if anyone around you sells pans and can make them there so you won't have to pay shipping.

If all those aren't options, Bass is really your only choice. To be honest, I have to sweep at least once a day when Chloe is in her FN so my room is presentable if people come over. But there isn't a better pan I have found.

I'd say you should look into making a melamine one. I think that would be awesome, and then you could sell them even, if you got good at it. Just make sure the edges are smooth, no chips or wood showing. There's some melamine tape stuff you can cover edges with, using an iron. They would be heavy, but cheaper than Bass pans (probably by about half)
Click to expand...

Actually, our "wood pans" are simply scatter guards that sit atop the regular plastic pans and attach to the side bars. That way the bedding is better contained, the chins can chew the sides safely, and the plastic bottom is maintained (which is easier to keep sanitized).
 
My chins seem to do good with the fleece covering the plastic pans and the poops seem to disapear (I have 3 dogs) :vomit:
However, I finally decided to order a bass pan for the FN142 that my rats are in (shavings everywhere). I only ordered one to try them. I love it and no more shavings everywhere!!!! Lets just say that I am now waiting for my second pan to arrive!:thumbsup:
 
Bass pans are definitely worth it! I still have shavings on the floor cause my guys love to skid into the corners, but it's a fraction of what it once was.
 
I had a local cage company make my pans. They charged about the same as Bass but I saved on shipping, which was huge as I was buying 18 pans. You may want to see if a local metal working or cage company can make you pans.

In answer to your question, Bass pans are totally worth the investment.
 
Ok, another question. I checked the Bass website and it says that the pans are made out of galvanized metal, which means it is coated with zinc. Isn't there a risk of the chinchillas getting zinc poisoning if they have a galvanized tray in their cage?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top