# What types of Critters can be kept in a DCN?



## FallDeere

I keep racking my brain, thinking of all the types of pets that could be kept in a Double Critter Nation. I feel like I'm missing something... or am possibly completely unaware of a few. So I wanted to ask fellow Critter lovers what types of pets they have kept, or know _can _be kept, in a Critter Nation.

There's the obvious like Rats, Ferrets, Degus, and Chinchillas, of course. Then there are the ones I am unsure of, such as Guinea Pigs and rabbits. Then there are the ones I _wish _I could keep in a DCN... namely mice.  I really want mice and keep wishing there was some way I could make a DCN work for them! lol.

So do y'all have any thoughts?

I'm sort of asking because I have two DCNs, four rats in each. However, I doubt I'll want to have two cages of rats in the long run (after some of my rats have passed away), but I don't want to get rid of my cage and I would love to have another type of animal. I'm definitely getting mice in the future (hopefully near future...), but anything else is up in the air. I just feel like my list of possible pets in a DCN is lacking...

Also, if anyone has an idea of how to mouse-proof a DCN, let me know.


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## steeve

To mouse proof I bet you could cover the outside with a finer wire mesh, but that sounds like a lot of extra work. I bet you can get like 20 mice in there or something. Huge house for such little critters. 

I don't think it would be a suitable home for rabbits. Most grow to get large and rabbits need more horizontal space than vertical. I've seen people keep sugar gliders in cages like that, though they're quite expensive critters. Perhaps those big Syrian hamsters would fare well in a cage like that? Never has a hamster so don't take my word for it. I've also seen people keep prairie dogs (not sure how legal those are in all states), along with chipmunks, in such cages.

I guess you'll just need to be creative.


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## Luminescent

I've seen people on hedgehog forums (mind you, I don't actually have one. I was wondering the same question, actually!) who've converted their cage a bit to make it suitable for hedgehogs. You could probably keep flying squirrels in there too, or take out the wire tray separating the top from the bottom to make a big bird cage for budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, doves ect. but you might need to modify it a bit.


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## Rumy91989

You can keep pretty much any small animal in a DCN. Seriously. If you have smaller rabbits it's perfectly suitable, and my baby guineas were VERY happy in their unit before we built them their own habitat. The bar spacing is such that even gerbils and larger hamsters would live in there no problem, though you'd need to find a way to create a good digging zone for gerbils in order for them to be happy. However, you could keep quite a few in there.
If you want to keep mice just wrap it in hardware cloth. You could keep quite a few mice in a modified CN, and the amount you could keep in a DCN is... well, a lot. 
Basically for anything other than ferretts or chinchillas you'd need to do a bit of modding, but not too much. 
Frankly, you could even put a snake in there if it was big enough.


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## FallDeere

Thanks for all the input! Man, if I could get it mouse-proofed... I'll definitely look into that because very few other pets seem like they would suit my needs.

Chinchillas seem too flighty (I already have two gerbils for that...), Ferrets are too confusing (they're called "small pets" yet have to be treated like a dog or a cat) and smelly, a rabbit is definitely a no, and guinea pigs would be cool if not for the hay and my mom thinking she's allergic to them. I mostly just listed them so there would be a comprehensive list of animals that could be kept in a DCN. 

Luminescent, I hadn't though about taking out the middle bars... Birds are also out of the question, but most sugar glider and flying squirrel cages I've seen have very few shelves and such, and are very tall; I bet that's make a great cage for something like that... Might even work for rats if set up nicely!

Rumy, I actually have very deep pans in my DCN's. It's like 6 inches deep. ^_^ My rats like it a LOT more than when they had fleece, lol. They love to burrow. I guess if the gerbils are still alive when some of my rats are gone, I could offer the cage to them... but it's kinda big and bulky to keep in the family room (where the gerbils are) and I think my family likes how easy they are to see in the 40 gallon tank. Plus, the pans are plastic. Tantor already chewed part of it and gerbils shouldn't be allowed to chew plastic.

I'm kinda afraid that if I can't keep mice in my DCN, I won't be able to get any until I move out (which won't be anytime soon) since I'm pretty much out of animal space. I don't have room for even a _ten _gallon tank for mice, and I'd much rather give them a _huge _enclosure... I won't be getting 20 mice if I get the DCN set up, though, lol. Four is the max.


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## zurfaces

On another forum ive seen where people have made octo and quad cns. I believe they just put them side to side and remove the bars from the sides. So they get double triple or quadrupled the length. A girl that fostered rats for the local rescue here had to give up the rats she was fostering due to personal issues. So she had 4 dcns and she stuck them all together for her personal rats... which she has like 12-17 personal rats I think? 

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## FallDeere

Is there any place I could find instructions on how to make a quad (2 doubles side by side) critter nation? I don't really see how it's supposed to work without actually modifying the cage beyond repair... which I'm not willing to do to my two extremely expensive cages, lol.


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## Rumy91989

You essentially set both of them up without the side panels on the sides you're putting together (which is easier than it seems) and then you zip-tie the two open sides together.


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## FallDeere

Ah, okay... It just seems to me like the side panels hold the entire thing together, lol. They are, however, the hardest part of putting it together as well; my dad has had to pound each side into place and adjust the pegs because they were slightly in the wrong position. If I ever do get down to just four rats I can keep in a single cage, I'll see if I can do that. As it is, I have three cages of rats at the moment... four girls together, one boy by himself, and three boys together.


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## Awaiting_Abyss

I know from experience that a DCN does NOT make a good cage for degus. Its is very messy and not very good for their needs. There isn't enough space for them to dig (they enjoy digging and climbing) even with the metal pan that I had to order after the goos completely demolished the plastic CN pan. I have my goos in mine until I get a wooden cage built for them. 

Ferrets and chinchillas would do fine. Also, opossums (short tail and Brazilian), sugar gliders, and Syrian hamsters.

I've known of rabbits to be kept in a critter nation, but I'm not sure how well it works out.

I don't really know much about hedgehogs or guinea pigs so I'm not sure if they would be okay in a critter nation.

Gerbils and mice should never be kept in a CN (even if you were to modify it for mice). Both need burrowing space (gerbils require more inches of burrowing space than mice.).


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## FallDeere

As I said before, I have really _really _deep pans in my DCNs... I still only fill it with an inch or two of bedding for the rats but it could hold eight inches of bedding easily (I measured just now). It's unlikely I'd ever keep a gerbil in it (as I said above). And only mice if I'm still as short on room as I am right now. I have no place to put any sort of new enclosure in my "rat room." But... come on; wouldn't a mouse LOVE how much room they'd have in a DCN?  I'm all about giving animals as MUCH room as possible and you can't really get any bigger than a DCN...


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## JBird

Four mice in a DCN??! That's... I've never heard of that! 
I mean... that's a huge, expensive exhibit cage. Mice are happy in far less, especially only four of them... you can easily keep four mice in an itty bitty container and they will be perfectly happy and smelly there. Lol! If a DCN can house over 6 rats, it can house dozens of mice. But... why would you want it to? 

Not to sound abrasive, I'm really just curious. I just can't imagine putting mice in a $250 cage when they could happily be kept in a large Sterilite container with some hides, toys, bedding, and a screen top... I don't know how mice do with levels, but I feel like any small/med container can be adapted to be very interesting, spacious, and fun for the little guys if you wanted to go all out. DCNs are designed for creatures with much more demanding mental and physical requirements. Chinchillas, gliders, ferrets, rats, etc, etc... mice do not need nor do they really _want_ all that space, in my experience.


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## JBird

Oh! I just wanted to add a few critters that I can think of that would do great in a DCN: 
small/med exotics: kinkajou, coatimundi (maybe... might be too big), prairie dogs, raccoon, capuchin monkeys, etc any small animal legal to own in your area. It could serve as an excellent night/out-of-the-house cage for a Serval, large Bengal, or other exotic cat. 

Birds would do GREAT in a DCN if the middle section was removed. Especially a large parrot or cockatoo, crow, small parrots like a Lory, Caique, Conure, etc. Many many options and it would be SO fun to deck out the cage to stimulate and engage them!!


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## TexasRatties

Possibly a gambian pouched rat or even an iguana maybe? I am not sure how exotic you are wanting to go. Prairie dogs always seem like they would be a fun pet or hedgehogs.


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## FallDeere

Jbird, I always like to keep my pets in the biggest environment possible, hence the two dcns. Honestly, I simply have no room for any type of appropriate enclosure for mice in addition to my dcns. Otherwise I would get another 40 gallon tank for mice like my two gerbils have. I don't plan to keep dozens of mice in a dcn. Four is my max of any type of animal in one enclosure. I'd never keep six or more rats in a dcn. I don't even like that three of my boys only have a single cn currently... Shoot, I don't even like that Meeko has a single cn, lol. I'm very picky about how much space every creature has since that is their world.

Thanks, everyone for your thoughts! I figured a discussion like this, about what types of pets could be kept in DCNs, could benefit quite a few critter lovers. 

(Im on my phone, otherwise i would write more and reply to more people. Hopefully i didn't miss anything important. My sister is in the hospital while she heals from major surgery and i spent most waking hours by her side. I haven't seen my computer since monday lol)


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## HeatherElle

JBird said:


> Oh! I just wanted to add a few critters that I can think of that would do great in a DCN:
> small/med exotics: kinkajou, coatimundi (maybe... might be too big), prairie dogs, raccoon, capuchin monkeys, etc any small animal legal to own in your area. It could serve as an excellent night/out-of-the-house cage for a Serval, large Bengal, or other exotic cat.
> 
> Birds would do GREAT in a DCN if the middle section was removed. Especially a large parrot or cockatoo, crow, small parrots like a Lory, Caique, Conure, etc. Many many options and it would be SO fun to deck out the cage to stimulate and engage them!!


My mother in law has 3 capuchins and a DCN would be way too small for one of them. That would be like keeping a rat in a 5 gallon tank. They're small for being monkeys, but they really need a setup like what you'd see at a zoo. My MIL, for example, has a cage about 3 times the size of a DCN inside that has a doggy door leading to an outdoor cage that is about 20ft tall and 12 by 12. There is a walkway connected to that, which goes to another cage that is about 16 by16. From that cage they can go into the basement which has a 10 by10 cage and their tv. All of these have ropes, swings, climbing structures, etc. (Just wanted to say something in case someone is reading this and starts thinking about getting a monkey, lol, they need a HUGE space. Sorry for hijacking )


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## FallDeere

Thanks for adding such valuable info, Heather! My dad has always wanted a pet monkey, lol. This thread should also be about animals that should NOT be kept in DCNs, that people may think can be kept in that cage. I'm glad to get as much info about every animal as possible. 


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## Rat tank commander

A skunk might work of you connect the two together but that would be the biggest you could fit in there but it is something to think about (state laws would be a problem or province laws for me) would be cool tho



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## JBird

FallDeere said:


> Jbird, I always like to keep my pets in the biggest environment possible, hence the two dcns. Honestly, I simply have no room for any type of appropriate enclosure for mice in addition to my dcns. Otherwise I would get another 40 gallon tank for mice like my two gerbils have. I don't plan to keep dozens of mice in a dcn. Four is my max of any type of animal in one enclosure. I'd never keep six or more rats in a dcn. I don't even like that three of my boys only have a single cn currently... Shoot, I don't even like that Meeko has a single cn, lol. I'm very picky about how much space every creature has since that is their world.
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


That's wonderful! You sound like a really cautious and caring pet owner, and I like that.  

Sorry about the monkey mishap!! I have obviously never owned one or tried to own one, lmao! I figured they were tiny little guys, I wasn't thinking of a full time enclosure, more of a sleep & containment cage! Same with Kinkajous and Coatis- never should be in such a "small" cage for too long, more like a dog's crate than an enclosure! 
Of course, if I ever had an exotic pet (or if anyone ever did, for that matter) those critters need very specialized care that for sure a DCN would not accomplish alone! I'd probably end up giving them a big old room to themselves with a large cage like that in it for sleep & safer containment, depending on the critter's requirements.


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## FallDeere

That is a good point, JBird. Pets like Ferrets really aren't supposed to live 24/7 in cages. Personally, I can't keep a pet (other than a dog) that needs more out-of-cage time than a rat, but I am really glad for all these suggestions! I kinda hoped this thread would help more than just me. Surely I'm not the only one who feels like there are TONS of pets that could live in a DCN that aren't generally thought of, lol. Then again... I'm weird. 

By the way, HeatherElle, I couldn't say this earlier (I was on my phone), but _wow_... That's an _awesome _set-up for the monkeys! Your Mother In Law must be REALLY dedicated to them.


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## Awaiting_Abyss

You can't keep mice in an itty bitty container. They need space just like all animals. They actually need more space than you would think or it will cause problems. Also, female mice aren't smelly unless you don't clean their tank/bin like you're supposed to.

I do agree though that mice would be much happier in a plain old bin cage where they can make tunnels galore. 


Also, I'm not sure if these were mentioned already... but I saw them at the recent Repticon show and it made me think of them. Short-Tailed Opossums.


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## FallDeere

I totally agree about not keeping mice in isty containers. I saw someone that kept a mouse in something barely 6 inches x 6 inches and 3 inches tall... with a tiny faulty wheel that the mouse's leg could easily get a severe leg injury from. I could never keep any small pet in anything smaller than a 40 gallon tank, personally. When my family got Coco, one of our gerbils, and put her in a 40 gal, it even seemed small to me. That's just my personal preference, of course. I know smaller tanks are perfectly acceptable, lol.

You truly don't think they'd be okay with an eight inch deep pan in a DCN? It isn't too much different from a bin cage in that respect. It just has several more levels in addition to that... and places for actual climbing. From the videos I've seen, mice might not like climbing _quite _as much as rats, but they still can enjoy it. I'm just really curious--before I make any changes to my cages for mice, I want to hear all sides.


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## Awaiting_Abyss

FallDeere said:


> You truly don't think they'd be okay with an eight inch deep pan in a DCN? It isn't too much different from a bin cage in that respect. It just has several more levels in addition to that... and places for actual climbing. From the videos I've seen, mice might not like climbing _quite _as much as rats, but they still can enjoy it. I'm just really curious--before I make any changes to my cages for mice, I want to hear all sides.


Yes, that would be fine in my opinion. Especially if you gave them a fun way to get into the pan. Mice do enjoy climbing. I have a mesh side window in the bin cage that I have my mice in and they LOVE climbing on it. They also use it to get to the lid and climb upside down on the mesh-lid.


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## FallDeere

Awesome. =D There could even be two deep pans (one in each unit) in the DCN, though the second level would have slightly less bedding. Though, the whole mouse thing is probably far into the future. I just like to be extremely prepared. I've probably said this far too many times on this forum, but I had to wait about three years to get rats from the moment I decided they were the perfect pets for me.


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## HeatherElle

FallDeere said:


> Thanks for adding such valuable info, Heather! My dad has always wanted a pet monkey, lol. This thread should also be about animals that should NOT be kept in DCNs, that people may think can be kept in that cage. I'm glad to get as much info about every animal as possible.
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


No problem! Tell your dad he's crazy, lol! They are SO much work. It's like having small hairy toddlers that are on steroids and PCP and never grow up lol!



JBird said:


> That's wonderful! You sound like a really cautious and caring pet owner, and I like that.
> 
> *Sorry about the monkey mishap!! I have obviously never owned one or tried to own one, lmao!* I figured they were tiny little guys, I wasn't thinking of a full time enclosure, more of a sleep & containment cage! Same with Kinkajous and Coatis- never should be in such a "small" cage for too long, more like a dog's crate than an enclosure!
> Of course, if I ever had an exotic pet (or if anyone ever did, for that matter) those critters need very specialized care that for sure a DCN would not accomplish alone! I'd probably end up giving them a big old room to themselves with a large cage like that in it for sleep & safer containment, depending on the critter's requirements.


LOL, yeah I hear you! I just posted because I imagined some poor person coming along and thinking, "Hey I have a DCN and I want a monkey!" and oh dear, would they be mistaken. Another thing I thought of after I posted is how strong they are. Even aside from the size, I think they could easily just rip one of those cages apart. They are wild little beasts haha.



FallDeere said:


> By the way, HeatherElle, I couldn't say this earlier (I was on my phone), but _wow_... That's an _awesome _set-up for the monkeys! Your Mother In Law must be REALLY dedicated to them.


Yes, she is! She's had monkeys for 20+ years, goes to meetings with other monkey people and has her house decorated in monkey/jungle themed stuff, etc. They're definitely one of those animals that take a seriously involved, committed owner. I'll stick to my ratties! lol


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