Being a Worry Wort about new Kit.

[Lucy~Caitlyn]

Ok, it's 2:30am in England and I have an early start in the morning, but instead of sleeping peacefully I'm awake fretting about having everything just right for my new arrival.:read::confused3:
What do I stuff the fleece that covers the metal base pan with?
How much headroom is needed between shelves?
I have measured the bottom section of the cage and if I had ledges 6" up from base. Each shelf being 5" long with a 6" gap between shelves.
Then 6" above first set of shelves, 5" long shelves, 6" apart filling in gaps of first shelves I would need 28 shelves to do both ends of cage and 22 shelves to do the 2 sides.
Is this too much?
There is a built in metal shelf 1/2 way across the cage, 1/2 way up. I did wonder if I should take this out and just have wooden shelves and fleece hammocks instead?
Without this shelf it would be much easier to hang hammocks.
Here's a reminder of what cage looks like, minus the metal ladders.
AVENTURA Tall ALL METAL CHEWPROOF Rat Ferret Chinchilla Degu Large Cage 1152 http://r.ebay.com/ERbCSA
Thanks for all the help to date, sorry there are so many questions I just want my Kit to be healthy and happy living in the very best home I can provide.
By the way are the bar spacings ok for a new kit?

 

[ticklechin]

Full length shelves are a good idea for active chins who are young in my opinion, kits are stupid and do stupid things so the distance to fall should be short, plus it gives more square footage for toys to be placed on the ground. I don't do kits and have only had one but I have had stupid chins who are active so its close to the same thing, LOL.

 

[Lucy~Caitlyn]

Thanks Dawn, I'm sure I'm just being over anxious but better to be safe than sorry :~)

 

[IceMaiden]

Woah, that is way too many shelves! Actually at only 5" long they wouldn't be shelves, they'd be ledges, and whilst ledges are good, you also need some full length shelves to, so the chin can run along the whole length in one go rather than lots of individual pieces. With 28 ledges one way and 22 another you won't have enough space in the cage for anything else, let alone shelves!

Three shelves are plenty in each half of the cage, have a look at mine , I've got one long shelf the length of the cage across the back, half way up , one shelf the width of the cage above this one and one below, with some smaller 4" ledge pieces on the doors as there's no space for them on the other cage walls with the other toys in there, and the layout in the bottom section of the cage is the same.

Your cage is the same measurements as mine, but measure the inside not no the outside as its around 1" smaller on the inside as your not including the frame in the measurements. You should be looking at the longest shelf being 35" and the two shorter ones 23" each, then the ledges whatever size you want (4-5" is a good size for jumping ledges).

Yes I would take out the same talk shelves it comes with, some 5" wide pine shelving and ledges will take up much less space. Those metal shelves are half the length of the cage and take up a lot of room. Their only really meant for if you keep ferrets in the cage, same as the metal ladders it comes with. You can hang up hammocks using the wire part the middle tray sits on, and by fixing some hooks and eyes into the sides of the pine shelving.

 

[Lucy~Caitlyn]

Thanks IceMaiden, your post makes a lot of sense and saved me a small fortune :~)
I was anxious about boredom as the kit will be an only, I hadn't thought about it being fed up with just jumping ledges and no space for anything else.
Your cage looks super, things to do and space to do it in :~)
After taking out the huge metal shelf it looks so much lighter and airier, I hadn't realised how much light was being blocked by the shelf.
Will get the right number and size of shelves this week :~) Fleece is on it's way for the base and hammocks.
Trying to remember I've got it right with other pets so I'll get it right this time too :~)