I just got this cage today. Assembly was easy with a rubber hammer for the tight fits. I had already come up wid a idea about the shallow pans, after reading all the other reviews I went to a local hardware store and got plexi glass cut in 4 inch wide strips and drilled holes to tie them to the cage( i personaly used black zip ties) but my pet is not a big chewer either. this solved the shallow pan problem and isn't even noticable!