Dual Critter Nation Convertible Top/Bottom Level Liner

Convertible Level Liners Used on the Left Side of the Cage

Have you ever been frustrated by the fact that the liner color you need is only available for the Top of the Critter Nation and you need it on the bottom? Or Vice Versa?

I am trying out a liner design that could be used on either the top or the bottom as needed. You basically cut the fabric like you would for the top, but only cut one edge of the ramp cutout (I will call this the "notch"), leaving the other edge attached. I cut the short edge, but you could cut the large edge if you prefer.

Sew the fleece to the U-Haul furniture pad like normal, sewing around the notch. Use a small 1/4" seam allowance along the notch (to minimize the notch gap).

Cut one side of the ramp opening, but leave the other side attached.
Sew around the notch using a small 1/4" seam allowance.

Turn the liner right side out and top stitch as desired. In the liners I did, I added top-stitching across the surface of the liners to try to discourage the rats from chewing their way in between the layers of the liner.

The finished liner should look something like mine, shown below:

Finished Top/Bottom Convertible Liner

You can now use this liner on the bottom, using a large binder clip to secure the notch closed:

The middle binder clip holds the notch closed.

Or you can use the liner on the top, folding the portion of the liner that covers the ramp opening underneath the liner and securing with a binder clip as shown:

The extra flap of liner is folded under and clipped in place.

You may not want to go this route if you move heaven and earth to keep your rats from burrowing under the liners, as they will likely be able to get under using the notch when placed on the bottom pan. My current rats have mellowed as they have aged and while they did a lot of liner diving when they were little, they are less inclined to do so now. Only time will tell if this design holds up to my current rats, although I believe it will work as well as the standard design.

Efficient Layout for Cutting CN Liners out of U-Haul Furniture Pad

I have been making cage liners for the Critter Nation from U-Haul furniture pads for a while now. I know that one furniture pad is enough to make all the liners for two dual Critter Nation cages, minus one shelf, but only if the pieces are laid out efficiently. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting how they need to be laid out.

So today, I decided to take a picture of the proper layout so that I can remember how it goes in the future. Note that the bottom and top levels are the same dimensions (except for the cutout), so they are completely interchangeable. Also note that you can replace any of the top level/bottom level pieces with two shelf pieces, with the longer edge laid out adjacent to each other (this produces slightly more waste, but is still very efficient).

If you always remember to layout your pieces in this fashion, interchanging them as described above when needed, you will be sure to maximize the number of liners you can cut from one furniture pad.

Liner Instructions for Critter Nations and Martins R695 Cages

Since the rat cage liners backed with U-Haul furniture pads have been a success so far, I put together some instructions with proper cutting dimensions for Critter Nation cages and for Martin's R695 cages. Note that these dimensions may also be appropriate for Ferret Nation cages as long as they use the newer pan style levels and shelves with a small rim instead of the flat style that was used on older models. The Martin's dimensions likely also work for the shelves and levels in the R680, R685, and R699 - (as long as the upper level has the cutout in the same place as the R695). I do not own those cages, so you would have to verify this yourself.

I will eventually do a step-by-step tutorial and add it to the hammock tutorial pdf, but for the most part, these instructions are simple (the same premise as a flat hammock) and the hardest part is figuring out the dimensions - especially for levels that have a cut-out for the ramp.

Critter Nation
A Dual Critter Nation will require one bottom liner, one top liner, and two shelf liners. Each liner will need one piece of fleece and one piece of furniture cloth, cut to the following dimensions:
Martin's R695

A Martin's R695 will also require one bottom liner, one top liner, and two shelf liners. Each liner will need one piece of fleece and one piece of furniture pad, cut to the following dimensions:

The Martin's Bottom Liner is sized a little long so the
cage sits on top and secures the liner to the floor.

The dimensions for the Martin's Bottom Level are a little extra long (about 1.5" on each side), so that the cage will sit on top of the liner with enough overlap to hold it securely in place. The edges will curve up the short sides of the pan. If you would like your liner to be sized exactly to the bottom of the pan, the length should be cut to about 32" instead of 35".

Instructions

Note that when the liner is not a perfect rectangle, but has a notch cut out, you will need to make sure to cut the fleece piece as shown with the right side up. This should match the layout of the shelf or level. (The furniture pad has no right and wrong side, but if it did, you would cut it as shown with the wrong side up.)

To sew the liner, pin the fleece to the furniture pad, right sides together, wrong side out. If it is a notched liner, the layout will look wrong with respect to the layout of the actual level, but after it is sewn and turned right side out, it will look right again.

Sew along all edges of the liner with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving an opening large enough to turn the liner right side out. Trim the excess seam allowances, and turn the liner right side out. Push out the corners and flatten to the proper shape.

Slip stitch the opening closed by hand (or machine stitch it closed very near the edge), then top stitch around the entire liner to hold the proper shape.

One Set of Dual Critter Nation Liners

One Set of Martins R-695 Liners

Using Large Binder Clips to
Secure CN Liners

The Critter Nation liners can be set inside the pans. Large binder clips (2 inch clips with 1 inch capacity) can be used to secure the liner in place if necessary.

The Martin's bottom liner sits in the bottom pan. Because it is a little longer than the cage itself, the weight of the cage on top of the liner will hold it securely in place. The Martin's top level liner should stay in place by itself, being held in place by the surrounding cage walls. However, if you would like, a large binder clip can secure the liner in place at the ramp opening. Shelf liners can also be held in place with a large binder clip. Alternatively, you can install grommets in the corners of the top level and shelf liners, place a split ring through each grommet, and a lanyard hook in the split ring. The lanyard hooks can then be clipped to the cage wall to secure the liner in place.

The one thing I might try a little differently with the Critter Nation liners, since the corners of the pans are slightly curved, in the outer four corners, instead of doing an angular corner, sew a slight arc, so the corner point doesn't stick up as much.

Dual Critter Nation with Liners

Martin's R-695 with Liners

Related Posts:
Using U-Haul Furniture Pads with Rat Cage Liners - Part 1: Construction
U-Haul Furniture Pads with Rat Cage Liners - Part 2: Early Review

U-Haul Furniture Pads with Rat Cage Liners - Part 2: Early Review

Halloween Cage with Furniture Pad Liners

On Sunday, we started using the new cage liners made with a layer of U-Haul furniture pad and a layer of fleece. Today is day 5, and they are still going strong.

I have to say that I was cautiously optimistic about these new liners. They are inexpensive to make and nice looking. They are softer than the Zilla liners and can be made in any color combination that works with your cage décor. They are heavy enough to feel durable and absorbant. They require less than half the amount of fleece I would have to purchase to make a pillowcase liner and no towels to go underneath. They are easier to change than pillow case liners.

But the key questions were (1) would they hold up to chewing and (2) would they control odor well enough?

Furniture Pad Liner with the Corner
Pulled Back by the Rats

I am very pleased to report that the preliminary results are looking very positive. On Day 5, I still cannot detect any rat urine odor. None of the liners have been chewed. The worst they have done is to pull on the corners and bend them inward.

I fully expect that they will eventually start chewing on the corners/edges or maybe at the fleece in the center. However, with the pillowcase liners, they had already made huge holes in the corners and sometimes the center after only a day or two in use.  There is no temptation to burrow underneath these liners, so there is much less need to chew a hole and dive in.

I have the two large level liners clamped down with a few large binder clips. But the liners on the shelves just rest there unsecured and the rats have not cared to bother with them. While I don't think that they are indestructible (how many things really are?), I am hopeful that they will be durable enough to last longer than the pillowcase liners with towels and maybe even longer than the Zilla liners. They definitely control odors better than the Zilla liners.

I am so optimistic at this point, that I have started working on liners for fall and Christmas themes as well as liners for Loki's Martins R-695. The Zilla liners have really worked fine for Loki, but I prefer the bright colors of these homemade liners and the softness of the fleece and the machine washability. Also, with Loki potentially having had a urinary tract infection, I want to be able to easily check for blood on the liners, so I will know if his infection has returned. The dark green of the Zilla liners made it hard to detect blood.

The furniture pad is quite large. I used two pads and was able to cut the backing for the following liners: 2 sets of Dual Critter Nation liners plus two extra Critter Nation shelf liners, 2 sets of Martins R-695 cage liners with extra long bottom liners so that the weight of the cage will secure the liner in place plus one extra Martins bottom liner. Note that one of the Martin's shelf liners was made using two fragments of furniture pad pieced together to make one piece. Based on that, the average cost for the furniture pad for one set of liners comes in at about 4 dollars a set (less for Martins cage liners). Add that to the cost of the fleece, assuming 1.5 yards at about $5 a yard on sale, and a set of Dual Critter Nation liners comes to about $11.50 a set plus tax. You can't do better than that (unless you buy your fleece from the remnant bin at JoAnn's while it is on sale and get 1/2 off the sale price!).

Related Posts:
Using U-Haul Furniture Pads with Rat Cage Liners - Part 1: Construction
Liner Instructions for Critter Nations and Martins R695 Cages
Furniture Pad Liners - Update

Using U-Haul Furniture Pads with Rat Cage Liners - Part 1: Construction

U-Haul Furniture Pad

We previously blogged about our experience using Zilla Reptile Liners for lining a rat cage:

Zilla Terrarium Liners - Part 1
Zilla Terrarium Liners - Part 2 (Martins R695)
Update on the Zilla Liners

While they worked fine in the R695 with just Loki in residence, they didn't work as well in the Dual Critter Nation with the three girls and Pirate. The cage started to smell after only a couple days and while they held up better than fleece, they still suffered some chewing damage. Switching the Critter Nation back to fleece was the best option for us.

While the pillowcase style fleece liners + towel combination handles odor well (we only have to change the liners and towels once a week with the four rats in the DCN), it still has some serious drawbacks:

1. It is a wasteful when it comes to the fleece. The fleece layer on the bottom of the pan is never used. Plus, the pillowcase design requires the fleece pieces to be longer than the shelf itself, with extra length included for folding under the shelf.
2. The young girl rats love to chew the fleece and burrow underneath it. I am repairing or replacing liners every week.
3. The rats, once under the fleece, start chewing on the towels, leaving them in tatters. Replacing towels at this rate, even if they come from the thrift store, is expensive. Leaving them chewed is a hazard because loose threads could eventually get tangled around rattie feet and cause them injury.

Rather than continue to throw money at a solution that isn't working as well as we'd like, we are going to experiment to see if we can find a solution that might work better. Because my husband does not like the mess and dust associated with litter and because I do not like to produce so much waste or spend money on all that litter on a weekly basis, litter alone is not an option. Plus, the girls have just started to figure out the litter training.

We have read about a material that Guinea pig owners have been using for a while now as an absorbant layer in their cage liners. That material is a Furniture Pad sold by U-Haul. It is about 1/8" thick and measures 68" x 85", is made out of recycled denim (although the pad itself does not resemble jeans fabric in any way - it is much thicker and softer), costs about $8, and it is supposed to be very absorbant.

I have reservations about how well this material will work in a rat cage, however. To my knowledge, Guinea pigs are not extensive chewers. This material may not hold up as well with rats. And I don't know how rats compare with Guinea pigs regarding odor and urine production. Rats are notorious markers - I am not sure if the same is true about piggies.

Before using the furniture pads, I washed them in hot water 3 times (the water drained a slight blue color and I was hoping that repeated washes would rinse out any dyes that may run - but no luck). I then dried it in the dryer to preshrink it. For this first set of liners, I started cheap and simple - constructing them from a top layer of fleece to wick away moisture and a bottom layer of furniture pad to absorb it.

Dual Critter Nation Liners Made from Fleece and Furniture Pad

The pad is designed to sit on the tray, similar to the way the Zilla liners do. I can clip them in place with large binder clips, or, if that doesn't work, add grommets and clip the liners to the cage bars so that they cannot be completely tossed aside by the rats.

I cut my fabric to the following dimensions for a Critter Nation:

Dimensions for the Top Level of the Critter Nation

• Shelf (top and bottom): 16 1/2" x 22 1/2" (15 1/2" x 21 1/2" finished size).
• Bottom Level: 23" x 34 1/2" rectangle (22" x 33 1/2" finished).
• Top Level: Same as the bottom level but with a notch cut out in the corner that extends 5 1/2" into the long end and 9 1/2" into the short end.

One furniture pad contains more than enough fabric for a set, with plenty of material left over. For the fleece, about 1 1/2 yards will make one set. Assuming an average price of $5 a yard for fleece when on sale, the total cost for one set of DCN liners would be around $16 - and this includes having a lot of extra furniture pad left over for future projects. That is about the cheapest liner option I know of so far - if they are absorbant enough and hold up as constructed.

It may turn out that we need an extra layer of furniture pad in order to control odors well. It may also turn out that the exposed layer of furniture pad is a temptation to chew and that I need to add a layer of fleece to the bottom to keep the pad from being exposed.

My hope is that the rats will be less likely to chew these liners because they can more easily burrow underneath them without chewing. That may be wishful thinking. We will have to see.

Supposedly, the furniture pad can also be used instead of batting for things like cuddle cups. I haven't tried this, but given its heft and thickness, I can see this working well. Many people do not like to use batting because it is hard to work with and it's fibers can be hazardous to little feet, so keeping excess furniture pad material for these projects may be worthwhile.

I will be installing these new liners with a new set of Halloween hammocks in a few days when I do the big cage clean. I am curious to see how they will hold up.

Related Posts:
U-Haul Furniture Pads with Rat Cage Liners - Part 2: Early Review
Liner Instructions for Critter Nations and Martins R695 Cages