Ok, well the first night went well no escapees. Second night two of our girls got out. 3rd night my nubby girl decided she should come visit me in bed and give me snuggles 3 times before I put her in another cage. So, tonight the modification began. They chewed right through screening so back to the hardware store I went for the green pvc coated hardware mesh (1/2"x1/2"). I picked up a cheapie pair of wire cutters (like $12) and 6 rolls of the hardware mesh (I think I'll only need 5 though). So, about $60 bucks later out I walked and home I went. I also got 200 of the heavy duty 7" black zip ties, and about 100 of the tiny (for computer parts and such) zip ties. For those of you who have ordered your FN's and want to have the hardware cloth cut and ready for when your FN arrives (like I did but didn't have the correct measurements to prepare) here are the measurements you'll need and amounts.

Measurements are taken from the INSIDE of the doors and harware cloth was assembled that way as well. I did the front, back, sides, and top. I did not do the bottom as the bottom pan covers it and my girls don't move the pan. If you feel the need to than you would just make 2 pieces the size of the tops.

(4) Doors= 16" x 21"
(4) Sides= 21 1/2" x 22 1/2"
(2) Backs= 34 1/2" x 22 1/2"
(1) Top= 34 1/2" x 221/2"

Notes: The hardware cloth tends to roll since it comes in a roll. Flip it "backwards" while attaching it to the cage. You can also bend it backwards to keep it straight. It helps to have 2 people working on it. One to hold it in place and one to zip tie. It took about an hour or so to do just the top part of the cage. It's fairly easy though once you find your groove. I hope this helps somebody!

 

Here's the top of the cage:


And the side of the cage:

Yes, we only ended up using 5 rolls. We used the 2ftx3ft rolls. they also make a 3ftx5ft roll bt i figured there would be too much cutting and alot more waste that way. I totally missed they were coming out with a rat nation before buying the FN. Oh well, i don't mind the modification.

Thanks for posting the measurements - I need to modify mine too!

I attached mine on the inside as well. At the time I did mine I figured I had seen enough cages with wire attached on the OUTSIDE and they look cheap/tacky. The wire attached on the inside looks much nicer. You still get the look of the general cage, but with added security. I figure I have to replace the wire about once a year (it chips/rusts in places)...but no biggie in my opinion.

 Thanks for the measurements. I still have to do my boys cage and I do not really want to measure it all out again Hahahaha

-Melina

you're welcome! Figured it would help somebody out! I know that I wanted to have everything ready and good to go by the time I got my fn but had trouble finding measurements, so thought this would help some other eager beaver like myself out. 

LOL, thanks!  I just went looking for it, too!

I'm taking notes... and will hit the hardware store tomorrow.   

Can someone possibly get me the measurement for the inside of the base floor pans?

I bought some auto floormat carpet stuff today, I am going to try to cut that to fit inside the pans.

I did the same thing. Coated hardware cloth, 1/2X1/2" black zip ties.

It was a bit hard but it got done.
The only thing I didnt like is that my ratties are exceptionally dirty..then had junk caked in between the edges of the wire EVERYWHERE! I ended up removing the cloth and cleaning the whole cage and wire sheets individually. I then attempted to cover it with screen..yeah..that was WAY too hard and was not working so I put the mesh back on again.

Good thing is that it is easy to cut the zip ties and remove the sheets of cloth to clean underneath.

I wanted to bump this thread up as it has important information people will benefit from.

This tutorial is superb, and has given me the confidence to go ahead and modify half of my FN so the "big girls" (especially my very dominant female Jamie) can sniff the "baby girls" for a while before they finally live together.

Given just how useful this article is, and how many of us are using FNs to house females and babies, is there any chance of getting the thread (or at least the relevant posts) stickied? People have been really good about bumping it, but maybe that's a sign it needs a permanent place above so they don't have to.

When I called them about the Rat nation they said that it was NOT coming out this year and may not ever come out. I called them about 2 weeks ago. 

Thanks so much for the great cutting measurements!  It made it so nice to just be able start cutting everything out, 

 :bow:I also want to thank you...It gives me a chance to get started while I wait for the FN to arrive!