Wire Bottom Cages

[JoshB.]

Sorry for all the questions!

I have a huge (about 5 foot) wire cage that I am going to use for my chins. I have read that you aren't supposed to use wire ledges. The cage has a wire bottom, and 4 wire ledges. Should I replace these with wood, or is it not a big deal? I will probably be buying some pine ledges, I just want to make sure it is necessary. Also, what should I do about the bottom, as that would be impossible to replace with wood? Thanks everyone.

 

[starleomach]

It isn't a big deal if they have wire as long as they have spots where they can get off the wire.

 

[Siylvat]

out of curiosity, what is the spacing of the wires?

I would make sure that whatever you decide, to make sure you give them some solid places to rest their feet.

 

[alli713]

I use wire bottoms in my cages. The only thing is that you want it to be 1/2" x 1/2" openings.
I personally don't like wire shelves. One of my older cages had them, but I put marble tiles over them. You just have to make sure and secure them somehow. I got lucky and 2 1ft squares fit perfectly on the shelves and couldn't move.

If you can, I would remove them and replace with pine, just because it's always better for them to have solid surfaces for most of the cage. Or just make sure they have plenty of other wood shelves or fleece things to sit on. Another thing I do in my cage is to put atleast one marble square tile in the bottom of the cage so if they do want to sit on the bottom of the cage, they do have a solid surface as well.

 

[JoshB.]

Spacing is 1/2 inch x 5 inch.

 

[JoshB.]

Thanks everyone! So glad I found this site.

 

[Jyss]

Eesh, that is terribly big spacing for shelving. Their feet could easily get caught leading to a broken bone.

 

[alli713]

Yeah, that's too big of a spacing for the bottom of a cage or shelves. They can fit their foot in it and if they were to twist, their foot could get stuck and they could easily break it trying to get loose.

 

[Essentia]

Spacing is 1/2 inch x 5 inch.

By 5 inches? That's pretty serious. Chin feet could easily fall through. It sounds like the cage bottom I used to have. Is your cage similar to this?

If that's the case, I put a 1/2 x 1/2 wire mesh on top of the pull out wire bottom. You can get the mesh at any hardware store.

 

[iayla]

Agreed, 5" is awfully long and a lil foot could slip in there and end up twisted or broken. For the shelves/ledges, if you're unable to remove them, you could just put pine shelves over them. Be sure to attach them to the cage like you would any other shelf, so the wood isnt knocked loose by late night chinnie exercise.

For the bottom, I think the previous poster's idea of covering it with hardware cloth might be your best option. And then, as others have said, place a tile or two as a place for your chins to get off the wire if they want to hang out on the bottom level. Seagrass mats are nice too, but some chins can tear those apart in a matter of hours, so make sure to buy a few extras
~Barb~

 

[JoshB.]

OK, I will go ahead and purchase those pine ledges than. Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[oxchincerelyxo]

You could get some ledges from people on here. Or you could switch your chin to using fleece liners and cover the shelves etc. with them


Good luck!!!:thumbsup:

 

[Rickman]

If the cage has a pull-out pan, that's pretty tight to the opening in front, you could remove the wire bottom, and let your chins in the shavings! I've done that with a few cages. Should be rather easy to do, too. Since they like to nibble the shavings, they'll love you for it!

 

[Chinnies]

I kind of prefer wire bottom cages anyway. I had wooden ledges and a marble slab in there, as well as a hammock and chubes and houses for them to go into, so there is more than ample areas for him to get off the wiring. So long as you do that, you have nothing to worry about. It nice because I don't have to worry about them getting to whatever bedding they pee on and it generally keeps the cage cleaner looking. Plus, one of mine obsessively eats his bedding, so I can't have him getting to that...

 

[JoshB.]

I ended up just buying some pine ledges from Simply Chintastic. Anyone heard of them?