QUESTION for those with CN/FN

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Mrsbeccabear55

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
53
Location
South Carolina, USA
Howdy all! I have a question for those with CN or FN cages. I have a double CN and I want to make it a little more custom. I want to take out the middle section of the cage. The part that separates the bottom level from the second level. My rats are big climbers and I want to make the cage a little more open for them, plus they've never really liked having to use the ladder. Plus plus, I want to get down to only having one pan in the cage as they don't really like being on the floor either. :/ Anywho, my question is.. What kind of thing do you guys use for shelves/ledges. I want to make it easy for them to get level to level, but with the way the holes for the shelves are spaced, it wouldn't really work. I've looked at getting wooden ledges, but I'm not really one for wood with rats as their wee's usually take over everything. And I've looked at the Lava Ledge's but I don't know how big they would be and if they would really provide a good ladder type access (unless I bought like 20 of them).. Or doing like crazy amounts of hammocks and corner hammock for them to climb in. :cry4: ah I'm so confused with myself. Has anyone else done this? Taken out the middle bit?

Thanks for looking! :bow:
 
I've never taken out the middle section but I think it's a bad idea. Part of the reason the CN/FN cages are so popular is that they provide so much floor space in relation to their cubic footage. While it's true that young rats love to climb and rarely use the ladders, as they get older they rely on them much more and benefit greatly from the ample amount of solid floor space. Even more so, the cross bars connecting the top and bottom sections would act as an obstacle to climber and could pose a falling hazard.

If you want a cage that has top to bottom climbing opportunities, you may want to consider one of the larger Martin's cages. It'll be much easier than converting the CN in my opinion and possibly cheaper if you are able to resell your current cage.
 
Mrsbeccabear55 said:
I'm not really one for wood with rats as their wee's usually take over everything.
Click to expand...
That made me giggle...

I would not recommend taking out the middle part either. They may love to climb, but they'll appreciate the floor space too.
I have seen folks add branch-like bird perches to their cages to give rattums some extra stuff to climb on, like these: http://www.petsmart.com/family/index.js ... 26+Ladders
 
I have a Double Critter Nation as well. I too would not take out the center area. The two biggest reasons for me would be safety (a fall from a foot or two is one thing, but to fall 5 feet is another) and structural integrity (it makes the cage strong having the center area there.) I have purchased extra shelves - I find that makes the cage seem much bigger because it separates up the areas. Rats are used to being in tunnels and little hidey holes. They don't need a big open space as much as different spaces. Even if they don't use the ladders now, they will need them later. You could leave the ladders out for now and just let them climb up the side, but keep them so you can put them in later when you notice they are having a harder time getting around. With two shelves in each section staggered opposite each other, it's an easy climb. Anyway, that's just my two cents........ :)
 
I agree with everything that has been said.
Rats need the floor space the full levels provide, the need various activities and things to do, a fall from a height may kill or cause serious injury, plus removal of the second level wil weaken the structure of the cage.

In addition to adding levels, you can hang tubes (cardbood chew tubes, drainage tubes etc), attach ropes designed for bird cages, attach small wooden platforms, hang multilevel hammocks, etc

You can also chage the setup around, creating new interesting environments for them to check out.

Check out pictures posted for ideas and go from there.
 
I was just concidering this yesterday. We have a CN with three shelves. I was detered because, even tho my 5m/o boy wants to climb around, my older boy doesn't and as he gets older he'll probably have HED, so I'm not going to do it now... maybe someday when I have all youngesters.
 
How many rats do you have? If you remove that floor, you are seriously limiting the amount of rats allowed in that cage. Rats need floor space.
 
I agree with everything said above... but if you really want to do it anyway... you could buy two extra shelves.
For example:
Have a shelf in the highest holes on the top, then another in the lower hole on the top part, opposite to the highest shelf... and then the two others the same way on the bottom... so that way, there's a lot of climbing being done, while still having the same floor space. It would also be safer as there are shelves on both sides, keeping them from falling all the way to the bottom of the cage.

I don't know if that makes sense?
 
jorats said:
How many rats do you have? If you remove that floor, you are seriously limiting the amount of rats allowed in that cage. Rats need floor space.
Click to expand...

Well, right now I have 4 girls but they are separated into pairs because one doesn't get along with two others.. but she gets along with her cage mate(who also gets along with the other girls) It's confusing. I would have to wait (if I decide to try it) until I'm down to the three sisters to be able to do this. So floor space wise, they would still have the recommended amount of space on the bottom, plus all the levels I would add.

As of right now I'm not sure what I'm going to do, the biggest reason for wanting to take it out is that I have coroplast (correx) pans for them on each level, but as they have been separated and I haven't been using the stairs, I cut the coroplast in one big square. I don't know how I would cut the coroplast to accommodate the transition from lower level to second level. Does that make sense? :thud:

Blarg.. idk.
 
mia9_28 said:
I agree with everything said above... but if you really want to do it anyway... you could buy two extra shelves.
For example:
Have a shelf in the highest holes on the top, then another in the lower hole on the top part, opposite to the highest shelf... and then the two others the same way on the bottom... so that way, there's a lot of climbing being done, while still having the same floor space. It would also be safer as there are shelves on both sides, keeping them from falling all the way to the bottom of the cage.

I don't know if that makes sense?
Click to expand...

That's basically what I was planning on doing, so there wouldn't be just huge gaps everywhere.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOY0ouUj ... re=related

Okay, I know I haven't been explaining very well what it is I'm talking about.. But basically this^^^
I know this is a ferret nation and she did it for her chinchilla's but apparently it can be done. o_O
And as chins jump and bounce much more than rats do, and are heavier than rats are. I figure it doesn't do much to hurt the structural integrity of the cage. But just like in her's I would put lots of home made shelves and stuff that they would be able to get to.
And obviously as they get older, I would switch it back to being a two level so they could get around better. The three girls are all under a year old so they can really move right now. This would only be a temp switch to get their motors going. I hope one day to get the metal pans because I really dislike the black plastic ones that the CN comes with. You just can never really get them all the way clean. :/
 
It can easily be done.
People also do it so they can use the cage as a bird cage ....

But, it is a bad idea for all the reasons previously given
 

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