One thing you could do with the shallow pans is stick perspex panels around the inside of the bars above the pans (or even cardboard which would be cheaper and easier but not look so swish!). That way you can have deeper bedding and reduce the height and the bedding won't fall out as the doors open fully and there would still be enough access above the perspex panels. So basically it's making the lower part into a low tank area with the bars above (I looked at doing this with a tall cage once). That would give lots of deep substrate for burrowing and also reduce the height. I don't know about in the US but in the Uk there are online places where you can get perspex or acrylic cut to size. Or you can buy pieces for picture frames on Amazon and use a bit of aquarium sealant or petsafe glue where the pieces join at the seams. That way you could have the base as deep as you want - 6", 12" or even more.
I'm not sure how high it is so you might still need another level. I reckon a full level would be good - hammocks don't really prevent falls to the bottom, they just break a fall and they can still land on something hard underneath. You could just get a piece of wood cut to size at a hardware store and fix hooks in the end to attach it to the bars, leaving a gap up one side for a ladder or tunnel and then just a small shelf higher up over the gap. If you don't mind the diy it would work out a lot cheaper than lots of shelves and hammocks.
Otherwise you can make a full level with two deepish shelves at either side front to back, and then a couple of pieces of wood sat across them so you just have a hole in the middle that isn't very big but big enough to put an access tunnel or ladder through - but then you still need something over the top of the access hole so they don't fall down it (a biggish hammock might do there).
If you had 12" perspex stuck round the inside of the bars at the bottom and deep substrate, there wouldn't be height issues and you could just have one shelf as normal.
Example of acrylic panels - smaller pieces can just be overlapped at the corners so no cutting
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009AEAG2E...A1FWWCVO9POVQF
If it's a 100 cm cage you might want bigger pieces - these are 12" x 24". So two of these and a 12 x 12 overlapped at the corner would cover one long side, the same again at the other long side, and then two 12 x 12 pieces overlapped on the short sides. But it would probably work out cheaper to have four pieces cut to size by a hardware place or online store - one for each side. They wouldn't take much sticking on as the substrate would mostly hold them in place, so maybe just the odd dab of glue or aquarium sealant on the back to stick them to the bars.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009AEAG2E...A1FWWCVO9POVQF
Converting a Single Critter Nation into a hamster cage
. I really don't want anymore rats, because of their health issues. I've had too many young rats die on me for no reason, its heart breaking. So I have decided to convert my SCN to a hamster cage for my Syrian after my guys pass.
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