# Questions About the Single Critter Nation Cage



## RattusMaximus (Apr 6, 2015)

I'm thinking about getting a single CN cage, but its pretty expensive, so before deciding I made a list of questions I need to know the answers to. Please try to be as detailed as you can, but any help I can get is great! 

1.Can it be added to later to form a double CN?
2.How many rats+their toys can it comfortably hold-I'm getting girl rats?
3.Is it easy to clean?
4.Does it work well with paper shredded bedding (the brand is something like Care fresh) and if not, what bedding should I use?
5.Is it easy to clean, and how do you go about doing that?
6.Can you reach everywhere in the cage easily?
7.How many doors are there and where are they?
8.Do/did you like yours?
9.What are some good toys to put in it?
10.Is there a lot of open space for toys, or is it mostly filled with ramps etc.?
11.Is the bar spacing all right for small baby rats?
12.Can you only find it online (like on Amazon) or can you also find it at pet stores (Pet smart, Petco) and if you can find it other places, where is it cheapest?
13.Can it hold up well, even to heavy chewers?
14. Price and satisfaction wise, would I be better off getting this or a double CN or just some other cage entirely?
15.If I decide to get a CN cage, should I get the single, double, or triple (does triple CN exist?) size?

I know this has been kinda long, but I really appreciate any info you can give me. Thanks!


----------



## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

1. Yes, I've heard of this being done and you can buy the extension unit for it. 
2. I believe 4 rats was the highest recommended? Lots and lots of room for toys, though you'd have to do some space management for four rats. I'd probably only put up to three in a single.
3. I find it easy to clean. I use fleece in mine though.
4. The pans that come with the CN are not for deep substrate. You'd have to buy the special deep pans for bedding use to be effective. Fleece is what it most recommended for the original pans from what I understand.
5. To clean it, I simply pull out the pans (Shelf and bottom) and I remove the fleece and put new fleece over it. If it's really dirty, I'll wipe the pans down with vinegar and then let that dry before I put the fleece back on. I wipe down the bars with water when I feel it's necessary. 
6. YES, absolutely. I can reach everywhere with ease. Of course, that's before all the toys are jammed into it! XD
7. Two doors that open the full width of the cage. Meaning, the entire front is the doors, which is amazing.
8. Very, very much. I wouldn't buy a different cage, ever.
9. I have hanging baskets, lots of hammocks, a pickle jar (For foraging XD), hanging toys, and sometimes those little hut things for them to chew/play with.
10. Everything is designed how you want it to be. If you don't like the ramps/shelf, take them out. You can just choose to never put them in the cage. I personally don't have a ramp in mine, since it's useless and my girls enjoy climbing the bars/jumping up onto the shelf more anyway. I'm tempted to take the shelf out now, but then they wouldn't have their litterbox in the same place, so I can't. Overall, lots of space that you can use however you wish to.
11. Yes. The bar spacing on a CN is 1/2", which is the most widely recommended. Unless you had baby-babies, I think you'd be just fine.
12. Yes. I've seen lots and lots of them on websites. I have not seen them in stores, but I haven't really looked either. Maybe the CN knock-off brand might be in the stores? Or maybe you have CNs in some of them? I'm not entirely certain.
13. I can't see how even heavy chewers could do anything to this thing... It's metal. ._. I could be wrong though?
14. If you can afford a double CN, you could but that. I'll tell you this though, this cage is huuugeee. It's easy to clean, but having double the work would be a bit exhausting, especially if you only have 2-3 rats. Of course, if you want to do the best you can do and you're willing to take the time, then go for it! 
15. Triple doesn't exist I don't think. XD We'd never be able to see our pets from all the way up there! XD I say single if you only have 2-3 rats and double if you want more/ are willing to pay that much/clean that much. 

Hope that helps some! :3


----------



## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

Basically this is my opinion:

1.Yes, but it's cheaper to get a DCN than to buy a CN and later add a level.
2.I added 2 shelves - one in the top level and one in the bottom level and had 13 rats in it. I think that was one more than it was rated for. I had 4 neutered boys and 9 spayed females in it.
3.I found it very easy to clean. I took out shelves and pans and washed them weekly and every month or two took the whole cage outside and hosed it off.
4.The pans are too shallow for shredded paper bedding I used fleece on the shelves and pans and had litter pans on each level with yesterday's news in them.
5.Yes, see 3.
6.Yes, the entire front opens up.
7.There are 4 doors in the DCN, 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs, the entire front opens up.
8.I have loved it for several years. I started with a Ferret Nation before the Critter Nation came out.
9.I had a wheel, hammocks, different children's toys - things like the Fisher-Price barn with buttons that made noises - I love to go to thrift shops and look through the children's toys for things to put in. Toys like the Fisher Price barn don't need the animal figures for the rats to enjoy them.
10.There's oodles of room.
11.The Critter Nation has 1/2" bar spacing. It works for young (8 weeks and up) rats. Not sure about babies.
12.Petco has it. PetSmart has the same cage/different name (http://www.petsmart.com/small-pet/cages-habitats-hutches/all-living-things-multi-level-small-animal-cage-zid36-21573/cat-36-catid-600011?var_id=36-21573&_t=pfm%3Dcategory) Ferret.com has the best pricing I was able to find (http://www.ferret.com/item/critter-nation-small-animal-cage-double-unit/650232/). I don't remember exactly where I got mine, but it was the best price I could find at the time (it could have been Ferret.com, but I'm not sure).
13.Some rats will chew the pans. Mine did and I bought Bass cage pans to replace them. The Bass pans are deeper than the pans that come with the Critter Nation so you could use shredded bedding with them. (http://www.bassequipment.com/Cage+Pans/default.aspx)
14.I loved my Ferret Nation for my rats so much that as soon as I could I replaced it with the Critter Nation. I would only use another cage if I absolutely had to. I would suggest the Double CN, because the single CN + level is more expensive than getting the double originally. Getting a third level is something some do, but I am happy with the DCN. The triple CN doesn't exist, but some people to buy the DCN and get the add on level and create their own triple that way.
15.I would suggest getting the DCN right off the bat. Even if you first set up one level, it won't cost so much more to set it up as a two level cage as to buy a second level later. The only upgrade I advise is to buy heavier wheels as soon as possible. The wheels it comes with (unless they have changed) are not great.


----------



## RattusMaximus (Apr 6, 2015)

Thanks for your help guys! Your replies were really helpful. I'm still deciding between this and one of the larger Martin's cages, but I think how easy this is to clean is definitely a plus.

I'm a little worried about the fleece getting too smelly, but have you had that problem? Also, would you recommend using the fleece or getting deeper pans and loose bedding? I like that the fleece is reusable, that would save me a major recurring cost I've had in the past with all my small animals, but if it smells a lot I probably want to get the deeper pans.


----------



## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

I have a large Martin's cage and now a SCN. While I love the space of bars of the Martin's, I'm really partial to the CNs now... They really are both great but I found the Martin's bars much harder to clean. It might be because I have an old as dirt model but I found they were rather sticky all the time and it was hard to get pee and other misc food items off. Bedding, shredded cardboard, and bits of material also stuck in the bars often. 

I've only had the SCN a few weeks but I'm finding it MUCH easier to clean and the bars are slimmer and easier to wipe down. The double doors opening all the way are also a huge plus for me. It allows me to sit on the floor and easily rearrange, clean, and play with my rats. The Martin's door was big and I could fit most of my upper body inside the cage but I still feel it makes the deeper corners harder to clean. The SCN is difficult to hang a lot of stuff because of the lacking horizontal bars but I've made do with what I have so far. 

My Martin's is 10+ yrs old while the SCN is practically brand new. However, if I ever need to downgrade to a less bulky cage, I'll go for a Martin's. They are light weight and can easily sit on top of a desk or table. The SCN has a base but still is rather close to the ground. The wheels make it easy to move but it is still rather cumbersome.

Either way, you can't go wrong with which ever you pick!


----------



## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

RattusMaximus said:


> I'm a little worried about the fleece getting too smelly, but have you had that problem? Also, would you recommend using the fleece or getting deeper pans and loose bedding? I like that the fleece is reusable, that would save me a major recurring cost I've had in the past with all my small animals, but if it smells a lot I probably want to get the deeper pans.


Fleece is really only usable if you have a liquid-absorbing cloth underneath it. The fleece is meant to act as a barrier between the rats and their urine, which is dried and contained in the layer of fabric underneath it. The fleece also acts as a barrier against the smell. I don't smell my rats until about a day before cleaning day. So my cage goes about 6 days without smelling when I use fleece. However, the drawback for this, for me at least, is that my rats have figured out it's fun to go underneath the fleece and rip up my absorbent cloth underneath. Which basically destroys the whole purpose of everything, since then it won't absorb anything and if they sleep under there, the pee already on the fleece is no longer touching the absorbent cloth. So, to be safe, getting the deeper pans/bedding would relieve some of these problems if your rats decide to do like mine are. :3


----------



## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

I have a SCN and I do fleece with a towel underneath. It is really the best cage you can get besides the larger versions. I try to spot clean everyday. Sometimes twice if my two boys are really bad. And I clean the whole cage once a week. If I get really lazy on the spot cleaning then I do a full change twice in a week.


----------



## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

Oh and I forgot to mention I did a thread on the fleece being clipped down. Here is the link to it. http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?272929-Fleece-Experiment but this may not work if you want to get girls because they tend to be more active therefore wanting to go under the fleece.


----------



## Rattienewby (Aug 31, 2014)

For bedding, I use fleece with a layer of a Uhaul Furniture pad underneath. Both layers are fully washable and don't have any risk of nails getting snagged like with towels. If you go to the Uhaul store, the pads retail for $8 but I asked for used ones and get them for a couple dollars. One is enough for 1 1/2 sets of liners for a SCN


----------



## RattusMaximus (Apr 6, 2015)

So, do you trim the furniture pads and the fleece to fit the cage?

Also, would it be nessecary to put that on the ramps, or should I only cover the balcony and the floor?


----------



## Rattienewby (Aug 31, 2014)

I trim it leaving about 2 1/2 inches on each side of the levels and just tuck it under. They pull it up pretty frequently but I let them, a bit less chewing it up that way. I probably get a solid 3 weeks out of each liner before cutting it up for scraps that they love (the big cage liner gets cut down to a small top level one though). I continue using even if they have some big holes on the corners, my ratties love going in between the fleece and furniture pad haha

I actually took the ramp out of my cage. With how they climb, they really don't need it! Now when mine start getting older and maybe a little slower, I may add it back in. But it doesn't need a cover on it, no.


----------

