Middle divider in a FN 142 for a single baby chin

[bailey45121]

Hello... I just purchased a FN 142 cage. I will be picking up our Chin when he is 12 weeks old which will be a few days before Christmas. I was wondering if I should keep the baby chin in the lower section of the cage until what age? How old would you recommend my chin to be before I remove the middle divider?

 

[ChinnyMom]

what you will want to do is get some hardware cloth to wrap around the inside of the cage, because your chin may be small enough to slip through the bars of the FN.

i'll let others that are more experienced with young chins/kits chime in on how long until you open up the whole cage for him.

 

[Godofgods]

My kits were personaly fine with the full area. I unlocked the full FN cage to them once i was sure the kits couldnt fit though the bars of the FN cage. Thats the big issue. Kits getting though bars can be extremly dangerous. And they are pretty good at fulling you with size to. Just when you think your clear, they go and prove u wrong.

 

[bailey45121]

The breeder told me by the time he is 12 weeks old, Bruno (my daughter already named him...lol)....would be big enough to not fit thru the fn cage.

 

[Mandy]

And they are pretty good at fulling you with size to. Just when you think your clear, they go and prove u wrong.

Very true!
I had a few week old kit in a cat carrier and next thing I knew it was on the floor.
I felt my heart in my stomach, for sure!

 

[Ash]

If you wanted to make use of the full cage, you still could, just leave the middle section as a floor with the opening rather then removing it fully.

 

[Godofgods]

Very true!
I had a few week old kit in a cat carrier and next thing I knew it was on the floor.
I felt my heart in my stomach, for sure!

My first kit did the same thing. Scared the heck outa me. Might explain how he got out of the cage and under my fridge to begin with'

The breeder told me by the time he is 12 weeks old, Bruno (my daughter already named him...lol)....would be big enough to not fit thru the fn cage.

Sounds like you might wanna do some more chin research in general. No one can guarantee that they wont fit through at a specific age. Just like you cant look at a 1 month old human baby and say exactly how tall and how much he will weigh in 4 years... you cant do the same thing with a chin. Their might be a higher chance of it.. but you cant guarantee. I urge that point because i almost lost my babies because of this. Its not to be taken lightly.

One other thing to mention, i don't no how old your daughter is, but if shes younger then i hope you realize YOUR getting this chin. They do have special needs and maintenance, beyond what a kid is able to comprehend and accomplish generally. Also remember that a chin can live ~15 years, so be prepared to be in it for the long run.

Just to clarify, I'm not attacking or anything, just trying to make some points clear. I don't want you to have and major problems or issues down the road with your chin. I would hate to see something happen to em.

 

[partygirlha]

Going back to your first question about full FN or just one level...
if you keep the middle in he can have the full FN. If you want to open up the cage into one open area, you'll want to be very careful about shelf placement. Babies can be really crazy and/or klutzes and are known to climb high and let go just for fun. a drop that's too long can cause injury of even death... so keeping the levels split is way safer until you know he's not crazy or a klutz.

just remember it's not the total area, it the length of the longest possible drop that matters. if you lay your head on the bottom of the cage and look up and can see the very top from any spot - the chin can fall that far and you need to add something like a shelf or fleece hammock higher up to break a fall.

 

[Cuddlebug]

Place a hammock in the middle of the cage to catch him if he falls.