Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Cages => Topic started by: ChinchillaCentral on March 30, 2013, 11:30:50 AM
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Hello everyone,
I'm going to be getting a Chinchilla soon and I wanted to get some advice about the kind of cage I should keep him in. I've been looking around Petco.com and I found this cage http://www.petco.com/assets/product_images/0/080605618572D.jpg
I like this one because of its size, I can really imagine it fitting well in a corner of my bedroom (dimensions: 37.8" L X 22.4" W X 22" H of the cage size: Large) on the otherhand, something like this would also be good in my bedroom http://www.petco.com/assets/product_images/0/027773010135D.jpg (dimensions: 36" L X 24" W X 39" H
Wire Spacing: 1/2") I really can't decide which one to get.
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Congrats on getting a chinchilla.
The second cage is better. The first one is too small and has a lot of plastic parts. Any plastic exposed to a chin usually gets chewed on and destroyed. Ingested plastic is potentially dangerous to any rodent so that should be prevented.
Chinchillas like to jump from shelf to shelf inside the cage and like vertical space. If you get the second one (Critter nation) do not use the wire ramps as these are notoriously dangerous for chins. I had a chin come close to being injured by jumping on top of a wire cage when his foot went between the bars and he slipped off the edge. It easily could have resulted in a fracture but thankfully it did not. The same can happen with these ramps. They don't need them anyway.
Although I don't have this particular cage I know some of our regulars do. They say it has a plastic tray. An aftermarket custom made tray can be ordered online if you find it's getting chewed up. You might also consider ordering sheet metal or wooden guards that keep bedding from getting scattered too far since the trays are shallow and chinchillas are very active animals. At the least you might want to be prepared to use a rubber mat if it's over carpet.
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Thanks again, GrayRodent! :::grins:: While I'm at it, should I get the Critter nation double unit instead?
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Many Critter/Ferret nation cage owners will upgrade to a double unit because they feel the single unit seems small. Here is the cage setup that I have and my chinchilla uses all the space in it.
http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,4091.msg30832/topicseen.html (http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,4091.msg30832/topicseen.html)
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would it be ideal to use wood shaving for this particular cage?
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Personally I feel that pine shavings (as long as they are kiln dried and not cedar chips which are poisonous) is the safest bedding for rodents. Many here seem to have success with Care Fresh bedding. With Care fresh there are known cases where it has caused fatal bowel obstructions in chinchillas that eat it. It has been known to cause problems with dry skin when they are in contact with it. The big advantage is that is more absorbent than pine chips and I imagine it is less messy. I would stay away from other kinds of bedding. Absorbent materials carry the risk of expanding and obstructing bowels.
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Just a few years back I was so chastised for using pine :doh: but I still use it and never had a problem. It's cheap, available any where and works great for chinchillas.