Wire Mesh Size?

[momof5furryboys1fuzzygirl]

New to this forum, with 4 little boy degus we adopted from the local humane society. I did some internet research before we decided to get them, but it seems like I have a new question daily. Today's question concerns cages.
My hubby has been planning to build a degu townhouse this weekend, but I have found some cages I really like to order if he decides doing it himself is too pricey and time consuming. My question is what size should the wire mesh be? These are the cages I am looking at www.qualitycage.com/chinchilla.html They come in 1"x1" for Chinchillas, or for a bit more 1/2' x 1" for babies. The difference in price would mean I could get a whole extra foot of cage if 1" x 1" is okay. Does anyone have a cage with this size wire? Or does anyone have a cage from Quality Cage of a different type? Thanks for any advice.

[ra]

Those are very nice cages. I particularly like the metal base. I could not find one with a metal base and of course my Degus chewed right through the plastic base. I had to build my own glass base to set the cage down into. I will have to keep them in mind when it's time to replace my "Degu Condo". I bought one of their Chin Spin wheels for my Degus. It is very good quality and a real bonus, it's quiet.

My Condo is two chinchilla cages (I think they were "My First Home" brand) stacked vertically. I bought them two years ago at PetCo and am not at home right now, but if memory serves me I think the wires are 1" apart. You could buy the cage with the cage with the 1" x1" wires and watch. If the boys are small enough yet to squeeze through you can buy hardware cloth at a hardware store and wrap the entire cage with it. I did that with my cage(s) when Mocha had the babies. They were small enough to fit through 1" x 1" until they were a couple of months old. We attatched the hardware cloth to the cages with electrical zip connectors. Did have to replace them periodically when they got chewed through. You will have to watch how the hardware cloth edges are cut. I used a metal file to smooth the cut edges. Once the baby I kept was large enough I took the hardware cloth off the cages. Sometimes I wish I'd left it on to help keep poo and bedding in the cage but it's not all that bad.

[momof5furryboys1fuzzygirl]

Thanks for the input. My hubby has decided to build a cage this weekend so we can have the best of both worlds, a bigger cage and the smaller mesh. I just know my little boys would end up getting their heads stuck. Hopefully since he's making the cage, we'll have some money left over to splurge on one of the nice wheels from quality cage, my boys love to run and are constantly pushing each other off the one we have for them now, as it's only big enough for one at a time. I could watch them shoving each other off that all day, it always cracks me up that they are such BOYS (probably because my kids are both girls).