Critter Nation Cage (and Petsmart's Rebranding)

A while ago I purchased what is more popularly known as the Critter Nation cage, but the one I bought was the "All Living Things Multi Level Small Animal Cage". Originally I wanted a Critter Nation because I absolutely love the fact that there's horizontal bars that are the right width, but what really sold me on this cage was the fact that the doors take up the whole side of the cage so when you open them you have the entire side of the cage open for you to access your suggies and their things!

The only issue with the cage is that the tray is meant to go inside the cage on top of the bottom grate, but I definitely wanted the tray to go underneath the grate so they didn't walk in their waste. I then found an article on another glider forum from someone who was able to jury rig it so that the tray could slide out from under the bottom grate. Luckily I discovered that Midwest (the manufacturer of Critter Nation) had ever so slightly changed the design of the cage and even though it was small, that change removed the feature that allows you to jury rig it to have a slide-out poo-catcher tray :c.

I was in luck, however, because Petsmart sells a cage that's identical to the old version! I wanted to make sure it wasn't just a cheap rip-off, so I actually emailed Midwest asking if they manufacture the Petsmart version of their cage, and they do! So the All Living Things cage is literally the same cage, just rebranded. I bought the cage hoping they weren't just using outdated images for the cage, and after putting it together last night I can confirm that the one from Petsmart is indeed the old design!


(drag image to new tab to see full-size)

Instead of following the instructions on the post on the other forum where it had you put it together and then zip tie the middle wire shelf to the support bar as a shelf for your tray, I just put the cage together slightly different so that I could put the bottom shelf attached to that bar to be a tray-holder. That, unfortunately, gets rid of the bottom shelf, but I do think it makes my tray spot a lot more sturdy!

I'm very happy with the new cage, and it's really nice and big. I could easily fit inside of it! You can easily leave out the middle shelf to give your gliders plenty of jumping room. Here are some pictures of my cage so you can get a better idea how it looks and how I changed the setup a little.



And finally the whole cage, which is waiting for me to transfer all of their toys and stuff:

Cool Beaners! Thanks for sharing your findings with everyone, this is helpful for those looking into this type cage for their precious gliders.

Your cage is going to be awesome!!

As for loosing your storage shelf, I'm sure you will figure something out that will work.

So the Critter Nation cage has the poop tray on the inside? Glad you said something as I wanted to order one but don't want him walking in his waste. If I wanted a nice big cage that comes with poop try underneath is there one, or do I need to just rig this type like you did? The rebranded one at Petco

sugiemom to Stuart

i have 2 cages from petsmart (they were cheaper at the time of purchase) and one from amazon (critter nation version). all 3 cages seem to be identical except for a label on critter nation cage. I put cages together 1.5 and 1.5. so i have 2 - 6 foot tall x 3 x 2 cages. 4 gliders in one and 2 gliders in the other.
I tie wrapped tray in bottom so poop catcher is outside bottom of cage.
If we can get all 6 gliders bonded, we will then put cages together for a 6 foot x 6 foot x 2 foot monster. we are very happy with this cage.

I told the wife anymore gliders or cages come with a divorse paper HAHAHAHA, seriously, 6 is enough baby!

I have a DCN as well. The poop tray is supposed to be inside BUT since I didn't install the middle grate inside the cage it is the perfect size to zip tie to the bottom of the little spacer under the cage. This will allow the tray to slide in and out of the middle of the spacer. Once I get my internet up I will post a close up picture of the mod that I'm (and I'm pretty sure everyone else) using.

Sugiemom: that's correct. Both the Critter Nation and the Petsmart re-branded version are built to have the tray on the inside of the cage, but as long as you get the old version of the Critter Nation or the Petsmart version, it's actually really easy to either put it together like I did or to use zip ties like most everyone else does to make the tray slide in underneath.

There are other nice-sized cages that come with the poop tray underneath if you'd rather not have to change the design at all. The other cage I was considering before I bought this one is the large sturdy cage from Sun Coast.

The suncoast version looks to be good on its bar spacing as well 1/2 in right? Also it says 6 feed cups, do you know if bars raise up and down where food cups go? If so can't gliders lift those and out they go? I just know my parrot raises his food cup windows and can almost squeeze out.

sugiemom to Stuart

Yes gliders can open the little slide up doors but they can be tied closed to prevent escapes. I use twist locks on mine but have also use hair clips in the past to do the job.

Sugiemom: I don't blame you for not reading the entire description for that cage. It's looong! You are right, there are smaller doors on that cage, and here's what the description says about them:

I personally have this cage. I originally used the provided zip ties, but have switched the six front sliding doors for reusable zip ties. These are larger and in colors, but I don't mind that. I like the fact that I can take them off for cleaning or if I use a feeder cup (occasionally I use one for a toy bin) and replace them. I also use the reusable zip tie on the sliding floor grate, so I can easily remove for cleaning and reuse. Also handy for securing toys and furnishings in the cage. I did keep the original black ones on the two smaller side doors.

Oh, ok great! Thanks for the info. I can use zip ties then. it is worth it to have this large of a cage with poop tray outside. Nice price for something that large too.

sugiemom to Stuart

Has anyone ever finagled this cage to keep it two seperarte cages with drop pans? I was just sitting here looking at this cage, wondering if it's at all possible, and if the cage was large enough if broken down into two?

the second "floor" doesn't come with a complete bottom. the grate for the second floor comes with a fairly large hole for your pet to access both floors. It's an add-on, as the original comes with only one layer, but I cannot think of any way to make them stack and have a drop pan. If you bought extra parts, or added parts, you could make the second floor and first separate, but the pan would be on top of the grate like the original design, not underneath.

One half of what I have pictured is 3'x2'x2' or 36"x24"x24" (I just measured it). According to this article, the smallest cage size for a pair of sugar gliders should be 18"x30"x36". I think we all know that the bigger, the better, but going by square inches, technically half of the cage above is big enough.

I have 3 of these cages.

I have 1 with 1/2 on top, then I put the other 1/2 on top of the second one. so the cage is 50% bigger then original. each cage is 6' tall by 3 by 2. Once we get all 6 gliders together (right now they are 4 in one and 2 in the other cage.) we will put all 3 cages together for all 6 gliders.

Chainsaw hey...
So you got 2x 6-foot cages from the parts from three of the Critter Nation cages?

Thinking of doing that myself...hoping I don't end up needing more than three. :-)

Was trying to figure out a way to put a "doggie door" between the two cages, so they could be used as 1 cage or closed off from each other.

Thanks
Dave

We got the 4 glider colony to sleep during the day with the 2 glider colony in a neutral small cage for the late 3 days. Only a few small noises all day, what we normally get from the 4. (they all get in one pouch and one makes a noise saying GET YOUR FOOT OUT OF MY FACE/ DONT GROOM SO HARD etc.) we took our time since we had one female that was resisting the 2 new gliders, she was real slow to sleep with the other 5, staying outside the sleeping hammock for hours at a time. But after spending most of yesterday all in the hammock 6 happy gliders we COMBINED THE CAGES!! yea!!!!!!!!

It is most of 3 cages combined. don't need one bottom, one top. Then removed 3 sides on both cages.
So it is now 6 feet tall, 6 feet wide and 2 feet deep with 6 gliders. We removed some lock washers on bottom screws so they are as close as possible, then tie wrapped all round and pulled cages very close together, less then 1/2 inch gap.
I put pictures on another glider website under this name, but I don't have secondary place to put pictures so I can put pictures on this website.

Wow cool,so you actually removed the side walls from each tower to make them one big cage? How is the stability that way? Is it getting sloppy without all those panels?

So I have a cage question. I read that Wrought Iron should not be used for housing Sugar Gliders? Or is it Galvanized? Can anyone clear this up for me. I am getting a new Joey in a few weeks and my husband and I are debating if it would be best to build a cage that is big enough for 2 or buy one. There are some good deals out there but I need to make sure the material is going to be okay.

Thank you!

Leslie

we used 9 medium sized tie wraps per side, and 3 on top and bottom. It seems to be fine if not pushing it around. pushing it around gets it a little out of alignment. but overall the cage is solid. If you use large tie wraps the door might not close.

I think you want to stay with powder coated. I have heard galvanized is bad as they could chew it.

Wrought iron. Are you making one or buying one? I have a Suncoast glider sturdy cage. The shipping was $9.95. I love it! Had it for 18 months. It's powder coated. After pricing a similar size cage at a mom and pop store Suncoast was about 50% less including shipping. Amazon has some cages too. Ebay. All I found were powder coated. I like the fact I can take it outside and power wash when weather permits.

I just finished setting my Crittter Nation for my 2 beautiful babies. I was able to get a great deal on Dr. Fosters and Smith with an online coupon just last week.

Thank you sooooo much for posting this! I ended up ordering the Critter Nation off Amazon and then found your post and noticed the change. Not only did it save me money getting it off petsmart.com, it was only $189 (with in store pickup), now I don't have to worry about they sitting in their pooper tray!😬

Thank you for posting this. I just placed an order with Amazon for the Critter Nation cage since it's on sale for a good price, but now I'm considering canceling it because of the tray issue.

Is jury-rigging this new version of the cage safe if you have other pets in the household? I've got a dog and two cats, so my concern is the possibility of them bothering the tray. Given, I'd do my best to secure it properly, but I'm wondering if it's worth the effort/risk due to the price of the cage.

I'm also not against cleaning the bottom every day, if I can't get the tray in the bottom to the point where I feel that it is safe, though.

Thoughts, opinions, etc.?

To be clear, the pictured cage is the old version of the cage. If you're talking about my version, and how I put it together, the tray is actually very secure. It's slightly possible a larger animal could get it out or to what's in it if they tried very hard but I personally wouldn't worry about it. I've had my suggies (only pets in house) in this cage setup since the original post and there has never been any concern for their safety.

The effort required to put the cage together is about the same as the regular way of putting it together since all I did was flip the bottom pieces over.

If you're asking about the version you're likely to get by ordering off of amazon, which would be a newer model, I'm not really sure how much would be required to get it to work like I have. When I posted this, the only for sure way to get the old version (the one I wanted) was to order Petsmart's one, which was called something else, should be in my original post but I'm so tired I'll let you look because I don't remember. Good luck!