Housing Options
Just for starters.. we don't sell cages! Sorry! D: But I'll be happy to link to a variety of wonderful and glider safe options!When choosing a safe cage for your suggies the most important factors are;
- Making sure it is adequate size-wise.
- Making sure it's escape proof.
- Making sure the materials are safe.
- Making sure you can access the inside easily.
-Cages should generally be no smaller than 2ft deep by 2 feet wide by 3 feet high. Many cages are a little smaller depth wise and much wider and taller. Height is the most important factor.. your little guys will climb, climb, climb.. and then jump! You alway want bars, mesh, something for them to cling to/climb on. This is why plastic/glass tanks/enclosures aren't good. There isn't enough airflow and nothing for the little ones to frolic about on!
-Believe me, you'll want to check this. Your cage's bars should be about a half inch apart. Wiggle the bars a little, push your fingers through. Some may look a half inch apart but are VERY flimsy.. and guess what, your suggie will squeeze RIGHT out! Always check all the bars. Sometimes the ones on the bottom grate(usually removable for cleaning) are just slightly wider apart. Throughly check your cage over!
-Normal metal cages made of galvonized steel or something similiar, usually for rabbits/chinchillas, isn't safe for gliders. They can get various health problems from these types of cages. You always want to look either for metal cages with a powder coating or the PVC coated wire cages, usually. I've seen many people selling the normal metal cages on CL saying they're ok for gliders. NOT TRUE! Expect a very sick if not dead glider and plenty of vet bills!
-This is especially important for custom cages.. You'll either want a removable bottom pan or a small door very near the bottom. Believe me, this will come in handy. Gliders like to throw things, drop things, make messes often enough. You'll need to pick stuff up off the bottom of the cage on a regular basis! Also you'll want to be sure the door is large enough to fit a wheel or branch or whatever else you may have through!
--- Powder Coated ---
These are typically flight/aivary/bird cages. Sometimes they may have a fewer smaller feeding doors you will need to zip-tie shut. Often enough the bars vary between vertical and horizontal. I was highly worried with my first suggie about her not being able to navigate the vertical bars.. Well, suggies are highly adaptable! Give 'em a day and believe me they'll be experts. So don't worry about bar direction, focus on size and making sure all the small exits are secure! (We had one with two small side doors that snap shut.. well, one of 'em popped that right open and went exploring! Never underestimate your suggie!)
Some additional links - Double Wide, Large Flight, Super Tall Flight cage
--- PVC Coated ---
There aren't very many varities when it comes to PVC. They're all pretty typical. The only real problem with these is a: if your suggie is a chewer, they can chew the PVC coating right off.. so in the long run, these don't last as long, or b: and this may just be my personal opinion, but.. they seem to get dirty MUCH more easily, something about the PVC.. the urine really clings to it. They're somewhat easier on the suggie's feet, since the openings are smaller and therefore easier to cling to/hold on to.
--- Home-Made ---
These are some of the most common cages besides the flight/powder coated ones. MANY owners opt for these as they are easily customizable to whatever size you want. They're especially great if you have a specific area you'd like to fit a cage into, you can build it based on your living space! Another great thing is the doors, generally they're built with a smaller one for cleaning/grabbing stuff off of the bottom and one or two HUGE ones which is fantastic for feeding, playing and reaching in to decorate, too!
Here's a tutorial for building a custom cage! If you search google you'll likely find plenty of other how-to guides as well! Also, the people in the forums listed on the links page are likely more than happy to help with tips and advice too!
