Ugh..my cage..

[GrayChillas]

So I have a great cage and I really love it (my chins do to) but i'm feeling kinda frustrated with it. Its a 4 ft. tall, all wire martins cage. It's the wire bottom and wire shelves that make me upset. I put fleece on the bottom (a portion is w/o fleece because that's where they pee) and there's a slide out tray that I put aspen shaving. The wire is super small squares so it's unlikely that my chins would get their foot stuck, although I do worry about that a little. Anyway, i'm kinda a neat freak/a bit of a germaphobe, and when my chins pee on the wire in one spot, you can tell and its really hard to clean. I'm thinking a pie pan or something as a litter box in the cage? And then I would cover the entire bottom with fleece. But then what's the purpose of the slide out pan with wood shavings in it?? Blahh sorry this probably isn't making sense.

Ok now on to the shelves - it's the same deal where your can see the pee spot and it's hard to clean. Of course you would think duhh, just take them out and put in wood shelves, but there's a ramp that connects the 2 levels so I don't think that would work. Here's a pic -

It's a hazard, I know, but I cover it with fleece but wanted you to see what it actaully looks like

This is at an angle looking down

These are my cute fluffs

Ella

Eva sleeping

I'm tempted to just take it all out and put it wood shelves. I'm not very handy but I might be able to manage..*sigh* What do you guys think?

 

[Gabby88]

Can you take the ramps and wire shelves out and replace them with wood shelves? I had a very similar cage and I took everything out and only had wood. I can post a picture if you'd like to see how I did it.

 

[AZChins]

You can take the cage outside and scrub it down with vinegar, it will get all those deposits off of the wire. The wire isn't a hazard really, the squares are small and there are a lot of wires that do not really put much pressure on the paw pads so if you don't have fleece in one area, they're alright.

I put vinegar in a wash bucket, dip in one of my microfiber cleaning rags and wipe off the deposits on the wire in my cages. If you keep it clean and wipe it down regularly, you won't get any permanent build up on the wire.

The nice thing about the wire is that it can be sterilized over and over again and is permanent. Wooden shelves are more difficult to sterilize and have to be replaced at a certain point.

 

[Gabby88]

This is how I fixed mine. I think they're probably 100 times more comfortable with the wood shelves and fleece than they would've been with a ramp and wire shelves. The wood shelves are really easy to clean with vinegar and water and they've lasted a long time without needing to be replaced at all.

But now they have a Ferret Nation cage instead.

 

[arf2184]

I would just get some wire cutters and remove everything you don't like and replace it with wood shelves. Its not too difficult. Get exact measurements and go the hardware store and get your wood (they'll usually cut it for you even) and the necessary hardware before you remove the wire so you'll be ready to finish the job in one session. The wood will turn colors when peed on just like the wire shelves, but you can sand it or replace it as needed.

As far as putting a pie pan in the pee spot...if they'll use it and continue to pee in one spot, a cheap pie or cake pan (glass won't rust and is easy to clean) may make your pull out tray last longer (they all rust eventually). You won't need shavings over the whole pan if that is the case. Its up to you.

 

[GrayChillas]

Thanks everyone.

And thanks Gabby for the pic. Your cage looks really great

I'm going to think about it some more. I'll be doing a really good scrub down soon and that'll make me feel better. Haha