This post contains affiliate links. For more information, visit my disclaimer page.
Chinchillas are adorable little pets to have in your home. While they are energetic, social and seemingly full of fun, you must always remember that they are delicate creatures that need a good cage to call their home.
A good cage will mean that your chinchillas stay safe, healthy, mentally and physically, and also emotionally.
In the following passages, we will introduce you to a thorough buyers guide that will let you choose the best chinchilla cage your money can buy.
As you will see, there are several factors that you must consider, before you decide on a cage that will be the home for your chinchillas, for many years to come.
Don't feel like reading over 3,097 words? I recommend getting the Yaheetech 52’ 6 Level Chinchilla Cage with 3 front doors.The cage has 6 levels, I'd say that's plenty of space for your chinchilla to run around!
Top 5 Chinchilla Cage Comparison Table
Last update on 2021-02-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
How To Choose A Great Chinchilla Cage?
Just like how we are so particular about choosing a home to live in, a lot of factors affect the quality of life for your chinchillas.
Since they won’t be living in their natural habitat when living in your home, the onus is on you to provide them with a cage that caters to all or at least many of their basic needs. If you want to learn more about caring for your chinchillas as pets, please read this very good resource page at Blue Cross.
Without further ado, let’s get into the various factors that you must consider before you bring a cage home. Towards the end of the article, we will also make careful recommendations about what we think are the 5 best cages for your chinchillas in the market today, allowing you to save time and effort to buy a cage with assurance.
Buying A Chinchilla Cage: Here’s What You Must Remember!
Space
Chinchillas are a ball of energy, and they need space to spend that energy. They like to loiter around and jump up in a bouncing motion. They are very acrobatic and restless and will suffer without enough space. As a very bare minimum, you must ensure that the cage you pick up has at least 6-8 cubic feet of space, per chinchilla. A lot of people make the mistake of picking up a 10 cubic feet of space cage for four or more chinchillas. That kind of space is great for one, but definitely not for 4!
Besides giving plenty of room for exercise, a large cage will also allow chinchillas to be social. Just like people, chinchillas like to be social, but only if they have some private space as well. They like to alternate between private space and social spaces. A large enough cage will allow just that.
Having a cage with large floor space will also mean that you will have enough room to add accessories, dust baths, spinning wheels, boxes or hiding spots that will help improve quality of life for your chinchillas.
Other advantages of having a cage with large floor space will mean that you don’t have to clean it as often. Ample floor space will also prevent your chinchillas from engaging in a very bad habit where they chew on their coat, often leading to infections that are very difficult to control or reverse.
Levels
As I said, chinchillas love to jump around. Your cage must allow them to do that and give them some purpose of jumping! A good chinchilla cage will have at least two levels while some even have three or four! The one with a lot of levels are quite expensive but still might be worth a purchase if you have a lot of chinchillas to care for. If you are getting one of the bigger cages with a lot of levels, it might be a good idea to get one with wheels, so you can haul it around easily, for cleaning or for moving it around, for whatever reason.
Ventilation
Did you know that Chinchillas cannot sweat? This means that they are very sensitive to heat. It is therefore imperative that your cage has plenty of ventilation, with air being able to pass through all sides of the cage, without obstruction. On a side note, never keep your chinchilla cage in direct sunlight.
Choice of Material
Even if it means that you have to shell out a little more, always buy a metal or wooden chinchilla cage. Avoid cheap plastic cages as chinchillas can begin to chew on plastic when they are restless, stressed or without space to do their usual activities. Ingesting plastic is obviously harmful to chinchillas. Another obvious problem related to chinchillas chewing on the cage is that it compromises the strength of the cage, eventually making you to replace it.
A cage made out of metal is a fantastic choice as it will hold sturdy over time. Being sturdy will also mean that you can clean the cage by simply hauling it out to the driveway or patio and hosing it down, something you can’t really do with flimsy plastic cages that might fall apart.
A metal cage is also preferable as it will not topple, even when your band of chinchillas are jumping around and having fun playing. You can’t say the same for plastic cages that are light and flimsy.
Strong material like metal will also mean that access points like doors will stay sturdy, keeping your chinchillas safely in the cage, even if they forcibly lean against it, which they probably will.
Access to clean
Remember, you are the one who has to clean the chinchilla cage. Your chinchillas can’t do it for themselves! So, when you buy a cage, you must ensure that you can reach into the cage with your forearms, with the door being big enough to let you do that, without twisting and bending your arm with discomfort.
A solid base
It is important that the cage you choose doesn’t preferably have a grated bottom. It should be a solid surface, for only that will allow poop to not fall through to the floor or from higher levels. It will be easier to clean. Bases that are made out of grate type material can be incredibly messy and hard to clean as poop can get caught and lodged between the grills, creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for your chinchillas, and potentially for all members of the household as well.
Another important reason why the base must be solid and not grated is that chinchillas develop something called bumble feet when they have to continuously walk on a grated surface. They are designed to walk on flat, solid surfaces.
Here's a simple video on how to set up the cage for your chinchilla!
There’s a lot to like about this well-built cage. With three stories, there’s plenty of space on offer. It is mounted on a sturdy base with wheels. The front access doors can easily be opened by you but not by your chinchillas. It also has a urine guard that you won’t find on many cages. The trays pull out for easy cleaning, and the entire cage is powder coated to prevent corrosion.
The price is great if you are looking for a great starter chinchilla cage.
Though the urine guard is useful, the grated base isn’t an ideal surface for chinchillas to walk on. Cleaning can also get a little messy when you have to clean the grates.
A workaround is to use a plastic base over the metal grating. However, it is an additional purchase that you will have to make even though it is an inexpensive one. Another little complaint is the directions to put this cage together are a little annoying as they aren’t well illustrated. You will eventually be able to do it but, they could have done a better job with the instruction manual.
All in all, this is a great cage for one chinchilla. If you have more than 1 chinchilla, consider some of the bigger cages recommended below.
PROS
CONS
If easy cleaning, short cleaning times, large spaces and the ability to heavily accessorize your chinchilla cage is of prime importance to you, there’s no beating this cage that is a very popular seller for quite some time now.
Though it is a 2 story cage, it comes with three ramps that makes going up levels fun. There’s a resting shelf in between levels where your chinchillas will love to rest and hang out, before heading upstairs or downstairs. Both the base pans easily pull out for quick cleaning. Unlike cheap cages where the pull out requires a lot of fidgeting, the trays pull out in a jiffy and with minimal effort. The doors are designed in such a way that they open up full-width, giving you all the accessibility that you want.
There are lots of rooms for large wheels, boxes, hiding spots or fun toys and accessories that you might want to provide your chinchillas with.
The cage sells with a fantastic 1-year warranty, and the dual locking doors lock very easily, with one-handed operation. Though the frame is made out of a strong tube, the grilling is made out of high-quality metal that lends both a strong yet aesthetic feel and look to the cage.
A video on how to assemble the midwest critter nation cage
PROS
CONS
With 5 shelves, 5 ramps and one slide out base tray, your chinchillas essentially have 6 levels to climb up and down and frolic. The cage uses a design that includes 3 very large or oversized front doors, essentially giving you full access to the cage, from multiple vantage points.
This allows for excellent cleaning, without having to clumsy around and struggling to reach certain spots in the cage. The whole cage is set on wheels and can easily be moved around.
The cage comes with a 250 ml water bottle that is clipped to the outside of the cage, giving you quick access to water to clean or provide water to your chinchillas.
Assembly of this shelf takes just about 15 minutes if you are handy. What we really like about this cage is that entire frame is made out of metal, meaning that even the frame is metal. If there was one complaint, it would be that the metal used for the grating is not as strong as the metal used in the frame. However, they are still plenty strong enough for your chinchillas.
If your chinchillas are older and not particularly the kind that enjoys climbing levels, you probably don’t want to get this cage as there is plenty of vertical space but not too much flat space on one level. Otherwise, it is one of the best chinchilla cages out there for sure.
PROS
CONS
For a price under $100, you get a fantastic chinchilla cage with 4 levels. Though the metal isn’t of the same high quality used in the other cages mentioned on this page, it still is of nice quality, with powder coating. The cage comes with a 250 ml water bottle, a plastic food box and easy to clean slide out trays.
There are two rather over-sized front doors that allow for easy access. With each door having dimensions of 11.8’ x 10.2’, putting your arms into the cage to hold your chinchillas or to clean out the cage should very easy. The cage is built on wheels which makes it easy to haul around. One downside is that the bottom base is grated. Though the grating is very closely spaced, it still isn’t ideal for chinchillas that prefer to walk on a fully flat surface.
The spacing between the side walls of the grating is 1 inch. If you have very young chinchillas, you might want to avoid this cage as they can possibly get their head stuck in between the grating.
PROS
CONS
This very aesthetic looking chinchilla cage from Prevue Hendryx is built to last a lifetime. Though it has a grated base that isn’t ideal for chinchillas to walk on, without developing bumble feet, the spacing is quite close to greatly reduce that inconvenience or risk.
If your chinchillas are the particularly adventurous type, you will like the wind-bell style locks that are escape proof. Access to the cage is through the top and through the front. The top access, though not very big, should be able to let you get the entire length of your arm in, to clean the cage or care for your chinchillas.
Unlike most cages that ship in a very industrious looking black color, this cage has an aesthetic rose gold finish. Besides the rooftop door, there is a very large front door as well. In fact, the front door is one of the largest doors we have seen on a chinchilla cage, with dimensions of 13’ x 13’. The bottom grille pulls out for your convenience, making cleaning a rather easy task.
PROS
CONS
Our Verdict On The Best Chinchilla Cage
If we had to strongly recommend one chinchilla cage as the best cage out there, we would strongly suggest the Yaheetech 52’ 6 Level Chinchilla Cage with 3 front doors.It has so many things going for it.
First, there is ample space spread out over the 6 levels. Since chinchillas like a combination of both private as well as social space, they will be able to find a great balance between the two in this tall cage. What we also like is the ease of cleaning. The cage is equipped with three oversized front doors. Unlike most other cages where some areas of the cage require you to reach out or really stretch or strain, every nook and corner of this cage is very easily reachable, by simply using the right door.
Assembling this cage is a walk in the park. It is sturdy. It’s on wheels. The frame is built out of metal, along with the grating. The base of the cage is a flat surface. There’s a water bottle clipped to the side of the cage. It is just well thought out, both in terms of design, build quality and convenience.
The only time you wouldn’t want to buy this is if your chinchillas are older and if they don’t particularly like to go up and down levels. Otherwise, it is an ideal cage that will keep your chinchillas very happy, for a very long time.
