Question:
I'm so excited! I asked my dad if he could build me a cage for Christmas, and he seems to be all for it. He just told me to get him some plans, and then we can start on it. Yippee!!!
So now I need ideas and plans. I know that I want a melamine cage, with a pull out tray, pine shelves and wire mesh and pine doors, but that's pretty standard.
I would like to see as many plans and pics as possible, so that I can make the perfect cage. Also, I would like to know about any problems/things to look out for.
Thanks in advance!


Answer:
Also, roughly how much did it cost to build your cage(s)?


Answer:
My friend and I just built a cage for the chin she bought from me. It's 4 feet tall, 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep. It came out to be about $70 US. We used one sheet of melamine. It doesn't have a tray of any kind because the melamine wipes clean easy enough. It has four 12" shelves that overlap slightly to prevent a long fall.
Here's a rough drawing of the finished product....Scout (the chin) absolutly loves it....there's a lot of room and places to jump and it's easy to clean.


Answer:
Alison, does that cage have one gigantic door?


Answer:
My dad just made 3 chinchilla cages for me. They are not melamine cage, but just an idea for you to have a look. They are attach to the wall, too. So far my chins have in there about a month(maybe not). But they seems to be fine, and like their cages as much as I do. My pictures are too big to post here, so I put them in an gallery. Here's the site -->> http://www.pbase.com/fee1580/all_chinchinzz


Answer:
I am building my cage this week Danielle, so I will report back with ideas and also pictures. So far, all of my materials have cost $80 but that doesn't include the shelves.


Answer:
Yes, one big door...it makes it easy to clean and easy to catch little Scout...
It has two hook-eye latches to hold it closed (one on top and one on bottom.


Answer:
Interesting, I found that one big door was such a hassle! My brats are used to having their cage in their play room so basically I would open the door and they could come out as they pleased. So, now that they don't have their own playroom, they just barrel out of their cage as soon as I open the door! Trying to keep three rowdy chins in a cage is hard work. So that's why I'm going with 4 seperate doors.


Answer:
I have two doors on my cage and it works fine. The second doore is about 75-80 cm off the floor and they have never tried to escape... not even when I forgot about the door being wide open for 45 minutes while I was having dinner . They must be wimps


Answer:
Since Buddy is a destructive rascal, I think that I am also going to make my cage have four doors.