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[Abby W.]

Shower curtains are a great idea!  I never would have thought of that, but I am definitely going to try it.  All of my breeder cages are enclosed, but my maternity cages are wire, and even putting urive guards in on all sides didn't help.  They still manage to get the wall and, somehow, the carpet in front of the cage...

[ChinchillAZ]

Hint:  When you use a shower curtain or shower liner to cover the wall ....Take it all the way to the floor and under the stand

With my setup, I hang the shower curtain so that it's essentially sideways instead of how it would be if you hung it in the shower.  This makes it longer so that it goes to the floor.  I then tuck the bottom edge under plastic office mats, which I line the floor with.  I have the office mats because I have carpeting and it's just easier for me.  I'm really looking forward to when I own my own home and can have a dedicated chinchilla room with no carpet and customize everything to make it completely chinchilla-friendly and easier to clean.   

[ChinchillAZ]

They still manage to get the wall and, somehow, the carpet in front of the cage...

Plastic office mats should help with that.  They're easy to wipe or mop up.   

[LMW]

My husband and I just got done building our chinchilla's cages.  They are each 6 feet wide by 4 feet deep and 2.5 feet heigh.  We tiled the bottom as well as the sides of the cage, it looks great and the chinney's are seeming to really enjoy their LARGE cages.  I currently own 5 chinchillas, there are three cages and we made them big enough that once our females start having kits we can slide a seperator wall and they will still have 3 feet of room.  I personally like the solid floor cages, I had them in wire cages and they seem a lot happier in the solid floor ones.

[Jo Ann]

When you say tile ...

We tiled the bottom as well as the sides of the cage

are you referring to natural stone tiles, ceramic tiles, or  the tile normally found on kitchen floors?   


 
Jo Ann

[Jenova]

My Cheech is silly. We have a wire cage and we always planned to replace the wire shelves with pine so it would be better on his feet. However, in the meantime we covered the second floor with hay so not only can he eat and play with it but it's like a soft carpet as well. Every day (or every other day) we will put fresh hay in and each night he pulls it all down to the bottom floor. 
He's got a gnaw block in there as well as some wooden parrot toys, a round pine door knob  and a tube and every day he pulls everything down to the bottom. He rarely sleeps in his wooden box now in preference of the wire and at the moment I have a quare of cardboard in there but he's sat right next to it asleep on the wire. So I'm wondering if we should put the flooring in as he seems to prefer the cage without it.

[Leslie]

Your chin will end up with feet problems if you don't put some wood boards down.  You should try to cover as much of the wire as you can with something solid.  Maybe it's not the wire bottom he prefers, it's the location of the cage he prefers to sleep in.  Try putting a wooden board where you find him sleeping the most and he might like that.

[Jenova]

I always try to have some newspaper or cardboard or wood down, but he changes where he sleeps so that he's on the wire. 
That's the only reason I haven't refloored the cage. I actually have the wood to do it.

[Jo Ann]

If you use wood for the shelves, floor, hut or anything else, remember, it has to be cleaned and sanded occasionally.
     If you have a wire bottom floor, I would just lay some loose boards down on the bottom floor (any used above the base floor need to be anchored into place to prevent accidents).  It is best to have extra boards cut-to-size as replacement pieces, ready to use.
    Wood is porous, so if he/she gets diarrhea, remember ... it has to be cleaned/replaced ... do not leave it dirty ... it will hold in the germs/bacteria and give them right back to your chin if not properly cleaned.
    On the parts of the floor/shelves that remain bare wire, please clean them at least weekly ... they, too, will allow a build up of "soil", which will harbor bacteria.

 
Jo Ann