Chinchilla Community Forums

Chinchillas => Cages => Topic started by: mojito on March 30, 2016, 10:34:44 AM

Title: Ferret Nation Midwest
Post by: mojito on March 30, 2016, 10:34:44 AM
Does anyone have it? I've seen great reviews, but Im wondering if it can hold the flying saucer we have currently. Also what is a good shop for fleece for that particular cage?
Title: Re: Ferret Nation Midwest
Post by: GrayRodent on March 31, 2016, 06:50:13 AM
I'm guessing you are asking if the flying saucer would fit into a FN cage? I have an FN-182. It is certainly big enough.
As far as fleece I don't know.
Title: Re: Ferret Nation Midwest
Post by: mojito on March 31, 2016, 07:13:46 AM
Well also do you think the cage can hold the flying saucer? I finally went and saw one in person and think that it will, but I wanted to see if others used it. Do you just use bedding then? Do you like that cage a lot? I'm currently using Quality Cage Mansion
Title: Re: Ferret Nation Midwest
Post by: GrayRodent on March 31, 2016, 08:17:25 AM
I know it will fit because I've seen others who have them in the same cage. It does take up about half the floor though so you will need shelves to make up for it.
Since I have made some serious modifications to my cage I'm not sure if my comments on how I use it are useful. In the top level I have built a litter box from wood and a frame with a removable wire floor grate suspended over the floor of the box (made of aluminum). That box is lined with a puppy training pad (out of reach of the chinchilla) to catch the urine. The floor in the top level is converted to a solid wood floor. The bottom floor has a similar frame in line with solid wood floor panels and the plastic litter tray was lowered onto metal rails that I installed. Same concept but flush with the floor.

Most people with these cages will buy aftermarket metal floor pans that slide into the existing cage since it comes with plastic ones. I know of two people now on this board whose chins have escaped after chewing the plastic. You should (edit: NOT) use the floors it comes with. I know there's fleece liners available for this but regular pine bedding is commonly used. Some owners will use fleece to protect the plastic. It seems to work but I don't recommend it.

As far as a cage goes I really like the large swinging doors. Sometimes it's a pain because one of my chins likes to bolt out of the cage sometimes but for the most part they are nice to have. The bar construction is sturdy enough for my exercise wheels, a full sized chin-spin, and a silver surfer that will one day be replaced with another chin-spin. It also supports a lot of the crazy mods I've done like the electronically measured water system and interior lighting rig. It's a very customizable cage.

Construction of the cage was a nightmare though. There were some extra plastic pieces over the ends the bars that turned out to be packing material. This was very confusing until I figured it out but once I solved the ID-10-T error construction was easy. Assembly requires two people.
Title: Re: Ferret Nation Midwest
Post by: mojito on March 31, 2016, 10:04:29 AM
Wow you've gone all out!! Great I'm so excited to get one now!!!
Title: Re: Ferret Nation Midwest
Post by: GrayRodent on March 31, 2016, 01:12:34 PM
Oh great, I just reread my post. It said "you should use the floor it comes with" but I meant to say you should NOT use the floor it comes with. Hopefully that was clear enough because I did mention chinchillas chew through the floors it comes with and escape.

If you google it you should find a few sources of reasonably priced metal pans for the FN cages unless you wish to fabricate floors, and a system of removable grates at your own risk.