The Fleecing of my cages.............

Fleece is awesome in critter cages !!!

While I was researching building a cage, I came across A LOT of folks who are using polar fleece for their guinea pig, rat, ferret and rabbit cages.  So many that there are now quite a few sites selling custom made fleece for C and C cages and Ferret Nation.
I decided to not only use fleece in Hoppy's new palace, but to see if I could redo the degu's FN cage in fleece.  The first thing I did was to test fleece with them.  Goos are chewers and mine LOVE to chew.  But, there are some things they don't chew on - they don't like hard plastic and most fabrics.  Because they had had polar fleece hammocks and blankets before, I thought they would do well with fleece.  To test it out, I covered the shelves in the cage with fleece and hung a fleece scarf that I got for a buck as a climbing toy.  After a week of no chewing, they were ready for their cage do-over.  I was pretty excited at the prospect of no more nasty, stinky pine shavings that just get kicked out all over the floor, only to clog up the vacuum.
First, I will show you the bunny cage.  The cage is 28 x 56 (2 x 4 C and C), which is a popular bath towel size.  First, I lay a towel down (I have stacks of stained towels I got free from a local resort):

Then, the fleece goes down.  Because my bunny is reliable with his litter box and is a non chewer, I just use some fleece blankets I got at Menards for $1.50.  They are rather thin, but that doesn't matter.  I cut the fleece to fit the cage.  At first, I just pulled some fleece through the corner and zip tied it in place:

 After I saw fleece was going to work out in the cage, I hemmed the cut edges and sewed a little bias tape to the corners for ties:

 I smooth the fleece out in the cage and then tie the corners up.  That is all there is to it.

Because Hoppy uses his litter box, cleaning the cage is simple.  Just pull out the litter box, dump out and refill with new shavings and hay every couple days.  Once a week or so, sweep up any stray poops on the fleece.  When it looks soiled or has alot of shed hair on it, toss it in the wash !!  Because he doesn't pee outside of his litter box,  I haven't had to wash the towel yet - it is still fresh and clean.

I also plan on making shelf covers for the rabbit condo.  I will do it the same way, making ties for the corners, although I might try just making small bias tape loops that can be zip tied to the cage.  Here is a preview of what it will look like:

Now, for the goos Ferret Nation cage.  There are a lot of people selling fleece pads made for the FN, but since I know my goos will simply burrow under the pads, I knew I needed something that covered the entire pans.  The first I used were the cheap Menard blankets, but because the goos dig and their hay cubes get pokey, I switched to a heavier fleece.  The FN cage is easy to fleece:
First, I lay a pan out on my center island.  I lay dog wee-wee pads on the bottom.  I fit towels to the bottom of the pan.  Some edges, I fold under, but if they are too big, I cut.  On the upper level, I add an extra towel piece where their water bottle hangs.

Then, I just lay the fleece over the top of the pan and cut any excess (leaving several inches on each side tor tucking under the pan):

I push the fleece into the bottom of the pan and then use spring paper clips around the edges to hold the fleece in place.  On the top pan, I make a cut to help tuck the excess around the cut out in the pan:

As I slide the pan back into the cage, I tuck all the extra fabric under the pan.  For cleaning, I just use a whisk broom and dust pan I got at the dollar store to sweep up all the poops and hay chunks every day or every other day (takes only a couple minutes).  Then, every other week, I just toss the fleece and towels in the wash.  Easy Peasy !!!  Mine has never soaked to the weewee pads, so I never have had to replace them.
I didn't show how I do the shelves, because I am going to redo them.  I have the old style FN, with the flat plastic shelves.  I taped a wee wee pad to the shelf insert, then cover it with a fleece "pillowcase" I made, then insert it into the shelf wire.  It is hard because of the thickness of it.  My new plan is to sew "pillowcases" out of a thin, absorbent cotton diaper clothe I bought and slip them over the insert.  Then, insert it in the wire and cover with a fleece pad made with two corner "pockets" and two corner elastic strips to hold it down on the shelf.
Here is the upper level of their cage.  The extra shelf is just a C and C grid zip tied to cage and covered with a chunk of fleece folded to fit.

Here is the lower level.  This houses their wheel and I just added that "shavings pit" - I got a reptile container from Petco and filled it full of pine shavings so they can dig and burrow.  I have a medium size one of those containers for their nest (see above pic) and a small one for their dust baths.