Chinchilla63
Well-known member
I called Midwest this morning (company that makes the FN and CN cages). They confirmed that they have changed the design of the base to include the extra bar and support cube. The cube is a tiny (maybe one inch) square of metal that sits between the support bar and the cage.
The customer service lady did not seem too concerned that the instructions and illustrations that come with the cage do not show the new design. She just said "sometimes it takes a while to get all that stuff fixed".
So, two things that I found to be a problem in putting the cage together:
1) the instructions show the support bar and cube and are clear about how to install them, but the illustrations after that all show the old style cage. Made me really paranoid that I did something wrong.
2) one of the last steps is to attach a small hook to each of the top side panels and hook them to the top of the cage. It's a good idea, would keep the top more stable, except not all the side panels have the hole to attach the hook. Read the last section before assembling to make sure you have two side panels that can be connected to the top.
The cage itself went together easier than my older CNs and seems pretty sturdy. Hopefully the change will be for the better.
Oh - customer service also said some distributors haven't sold out of the old style yet, so if you're buying a cage now you might get either type base. No way to tell from looking at the box, I think, cause they haven't changed the picture. Once you open it, if the directions refer to Phillips bolts for assembly, it's the new model.
The customer service lady did not seem too concerned that the instructions and illustrations that come with the cage do not show the new design. She just said "sometimes it takes a while to get all that stuff fixed".
So, two things that I found to be a problem in putting the cage together:
1) the instructions show the support bar and cube and are clear about how to install them, but the illustrations after that all show the old style cage. Made me really paranoid that I did something wrong.
2) one of the last steps is to attach a small hook to each of the top side panels and hook them to the top of the cage. It's a good idea, would keep the top more stable, except not all the side panels have the hole to attach the hook. Read the last section before assembling to make sure you have two side panels that can be connected to the top.
The cage itself went together easier than my older CNs and seems pretty sturdy. Hopefully the change will be for the better.
Oh - customer service also said some distributors haven't sold out of the old style yet, so if you're buying a cage now you might get either type base. No way to tell from looking at the box, I think, cause they haven't changed the picture. Once you open it, if the directions refer to Phillips bolts for assembly, it's the new model.
