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Old 03-09-2018, 03:00 AM  
mlwinters
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Cornwall, UK
Posts: 39
Default My Medium Sized DIY Cage

Hey everyone, I thought I would share some details and pictures of my custom built cage for a syrian hamster.

The inside dimensions of this cage are 1470mm by 507mm giving a floor space of 7434.09² cm when taking into account the two vertical supports and 533mm high.
These two supports reinforce two shelves and also holds the acrylic panels upright and against a wooden strip along the bottom front edge. The acrylic panels are joined with a PVC joiner thing, this allow the two panels to be easily and quickly removed.

The cage has three doors, two front doors that open out and the lid/roof that lifts up, it also has locking wheels to allow easy movement. The castors have a foam pads to help reduce vibrations traving into the floor (live in second floor flat). It has three shelves, the lower two shelves are at the same height (~200mm) and an upper shelf (~350mm) with steps on one side and a staircase on the other. I took inspiration from a popular YouTuber for protecting from falls by using around 300 ice lolly sticks to fence off around all shelves, each one was individually glued and placed, indeed this took ages to get right. The edges of the shelves and steps are cladded with balsa wood as with the back of the stairs. I have used at least 50mm of bedding around the wheel and with most places between 75 and 150mm, both for cushioning falls and for digging/tunneling in. Maximum depth of bedding is upto 190mm at the front.
I have put three pull tight latches on the doors, one between the two front doors and the other two on the roof, one on each door. The doors also have magnets on them to hold them closed. Both the doors and roof are very secure when locked
I have fitted three 12V warm white LED strips, one to the roof and one to each end wall at moreless a 45° angle. These LEDs are running at 10 volt to reduce the overall brightness and power consumption. This is something I want to change in future though, I'm not happy with these lights.
The black, well red square thing bottom left of a piece of very dark red lighting gel. Behind is a nest box that the purple tunnel goes to. The LX gel only allows 4% light to travel through and is almost pitch black inside even on a bright day.

Its probably best if you see some photos. I have made a few changes since these were taken, placement of toys, more toys, bigger and better food dish ect but you get the idea as to the construction and basic layout.
Please let me know what you think and let me know if I need to change anything.

There are a couple of things I haven't mentioned in here but Ill save those for another post, another day.

Take Care
Morgan

P.S. Please discount the sticks poking up like spikes, I was trying something out unrelated and was using the bedding to hold them in place. I forgot to remove them for these pictures. These sticks are, as they are here, clearly very dangerous. No animal is living in or indeed anywhere near the cage. Its just that these pictures are the best I have.

P.S.S. Sorry if this is in the wrong place, mods please move if it is.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Cage Normal.JPG (1.82 MB, 247 views)
File Type: jpg Front Doors Open.JPG (1.86 MB, 116 views)
File Type: jpg Front Doors And Roof Open.JPG (1.88 MB, 95 views)
File Type: jpg Top View.JPG (1.80 MB, 95 views)
File Type: jpg Night Lights.JPG (1.57 MB, 115 views)

Last edited by mlwinters; 03-09-2018 at 03:09 AM.
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