Nearly every fitting problem with a chastity cage traces back to one of four sizes: the cage inside diameter, the base ring inside diameter, the length, or the gap. Three of the four (ring, gap, length) we can adjust for you after delivery, even years later. Only the cage inside diameter is permanent, which is why it’s the one to get right before ordering.
We’ve answered fitting emails since 2009, and the same seven problems account for almost all of them. Below is each one as symptom, then cause, then fix, in roughly the order we see them. If your cage came from another maker the causes are the same, though the fixes may not be, since most manufacturers don’t make adjustments.
Symptom. The shaft feels squeezed all day, not just during erections. Skin bulges through the bars. There’s a puffiness to the skin that goes away soon after the cage is removed.
Cause. The cage inside diameter is a size under. When using the sizing ring kit, the correct cage ring just indents the skin at your normal flaccid state. That’s snug by design; a caged erection is meant to feel like pressure. But squeezing at rest, or skin forced through the bars, is a diameter that’s genuinely too small. When flaccid you should just fill the diameter when at your normal flaccid state. No skin should be sticking out.
Fix. This is the one size that can’t be adjusted, on our cages or anyone’s. If the cage diameter is wrong, a new cage has to be made. If you’re troubleshooting before ordering: distract yourself with the test ring on (watching TV helps, per William), then look down. The ring should just indent the skin. If there is space between the skin and the plastic sizing ring then the cage will be too big.
Symptom. Too long: the glans doesn’t reach the end and there is extra space at the tip of the cage. This will cause shifting of the cage all day and added weight to the cage that you do not need. Too short: when a cage is too short it is normally not a big issue. It is much better to be a little short than it is to be too long. A lot of our clients prefer to have a short cage.
Cause. Length. Our method: a hard ruler under the penis, just touching the scrotum without pushing in, several readings at different times of day, never after a shower. Take the shortest reading and subtract a quarter inch. That’s the cage length, measured down the inside center of the cage, excluding the ring and gap. Most too-long cages come from measuring at the top of the shaft or from a generous reading.
Fix. Length is adjustable by us after delivery. Email with the symptom and your readings and we’ll tell you what we can do. Before ordering, the fill test is the target: at normal flaccid state you should fill the cage in length and girth, so it holds itself up with no extra room. Our sizing guide walks through the ruler method step by step.
Symptom. The whole device droops. It swings when you walk. It slides down and pulls on the shaft. Testicles work their way toward the ring or out of it.
Cause. The base ring inside diameter is too big. The test: While wearing the ring without the cage and at your normal flaccid state, how many fingers fit under the top of the ring to the first knuckle without forcing? Exactly one, slightly snug, is right. Two means a size too big. If the ring is the right size, then it may be that the client’s scrotum hangs loose and low. There is a separate fix for that. A double base ring will take up more of the scrotum skin and help to hold up the cage closer to the body. There is no limit to how many rings we can add to a base ring. Many of our clients are up to four.
Fix. Ring diameter can be adjusted by us. Unlike other manufacturers, that doesn’t mean buying a new ring; contact us. If the ring size is right but the cage still slides down, that’s a different problem (Problem 7). If the main symptom is testicles escaping, we’ve written a whole piece on balls slipping out of the cage.
Symptom. Constant tightness behind the testicles at rest. Skin folding over the ring. Real pain or pinching not pressure, during erections.
Cause. Base ring a size under. No finger fits under the top of the ring; the ring is doing more than holding the cage up. The purpose spec is: tight enough to hold up the cage, loose enough to allow blood flow.
Fix. Ring diameter can be adjusted by us. Don’t wait this one out. A too-small ring is the one fitting error that becomes a circulation problem, and the site’s own line applies: remove the device for pain, numbness, or discoloration and get in touch for resizing guidance.
Symptom. Not pinching, not tightness: a hot, burning feeling in the scrotum, often after some hours of wear, sometimes worse at night.
Cause. The gap. It’s the distance between the cage and the base ring, and it’s chosen rather than measured. Our default is 3/8″, which fits most clients. A high and tight scrotum, or anyone with a history of that burning sensation in previous cages, usually needs 1/2″. Low-hanging anatomy usually needs 1/4″. We can also do custom sizing on gaps. Just let us know what you need.
Fix. Gap is adjustable to any size, since every cage is handmade. We’ll either do it for you or talk you through making the adjustment yourself. One reason gaps behave differently across makers: some measure from the bottom of the cage back to the bottom of the ring, which changes with ring size and shape. We measure straight across, from the bottom of the cage to the side of the base ring, so the gap stays consistent whatever ring you have.
Symptom. Sharp, sudden pinches, usually during an attempted erection, sometimes when sitting down or standing up. Small red marks or a sore spot where skin meets the material.
Cause. This depends on what the cage is made of. In plastic devices, pinching is close to built in: plastic sticks to skin, and during an attempted erection the skin can fold into the cage or ring, and the pressure of the blood flow pinches it. It’s worse in public and at work, where you can’t do anything about it. On steel, skin moves easily across the smooth stainless surface, so pinching almost always means a size is off: a ring a step too small folding skin over it, or a gap that’s letting scrotal skin get caught between cage and ring.
Fix. Plastic: no adjustment fixes the material. Our metal vs plastic comparison lays that out honestly. Steel: identify which size is doing it (ring or gap, usually), and see Problems 4 and 5. Both are adjustable.
Symptom. One finger fits under the ring, so the size is right, but the cage still works its way downward through the day and tugs.
Cause. Sometimes anatomy: a low-hanging scrotum or a body shape where a single ring can’t hold the assembly up without being uncomfortably tight. Sometimes a cage with too much room inside that has nothing to hold on to. Adding more rings to the base ring will correct this issue as it will take up more of the scrotum skin to hold it to the body.
Fix. First check the fill test (Problem 2): a cage with no extra room holds itself up. If the length and diameter are right and it still slides, William’s answer is to consider a double base ring, which distributes the hold across two rings instead of asking one ring to do it all. Email us the symptom and we’ll tell you whether that’s the answer for your case.
Every one of the seven starts with a size. So:
The standard we build to is the cage you forget you’re wearing, and feel like you’re forgetting something when it’s off. Anything short of that is on this list somewhere, and most of it we can fix without a new cage.
Fitting questions are most of what we answer. If something on this list sounds like your cage, email the workshop with the symptom and your four sizes, and we’ll tell you which one it is and what we can adjust. If you haven’t ordered yet, the plastic sizing rings are how you skip the whole list.
