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View Full Version : DIY Sisal rope hammock! (note - many pics)


Redame
08-24-2010, 01:59 AM
Hey all,

I made a little hammock for my dwarfs that only consists of sisal rope and therefore is quite safe for them to nibble on! So here is how I did it (please excuse me for the funky DIY, I'm not that experienced lol!):

You need a thick plank of wood (I used a chopping board), nails, hammer, ruler, pencil and of course a bale of sisal rope.
For dwarf hamsters a hammock of 10 by 10 cm should be big enough. Draw thinly a square of your desired size, and on the horizontal lines, mark where the nails should go with small dots. I got my nails 0,5 cm apart from eachother, which is pretty tight to weave:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock1.jpg

Then, carefully (!) start to jam in the nails on the dots:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock2.jpg

When all the nails are in, tie a tight knot on the far down-right nail, and leave a good 15 cm on the back of it:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock3.jpg

Now you can start weaving the rope up and down, around every single nail. I weaved mine quite tight, but take notice that the tighter you weave this part, the harder it is to weave the second part:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock4.jpg

When you finished weaving vertically and end up at the last nail, go totally around that nail and start weaving horizontally. You should put the threat above and below the vertical threads, all the time. Double check that you're not doing an above-above or below-below (happened to me some times!):
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock5.jpg

Push the first horizontal thread as far up as possible. Now turn the thread you are weaving with around, and make sure that you're weaving the opposite of the thread above. So where the 1st thread is going above-under-above-under, your second thread should go under-above-under-above. Keep on weaving like this, and remember to push every single thread upwards so it becomes nice and tight:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock6.jpg

When it gets harder to weave, you can remove the hammock from the nails (except from the one it is tied on). This should make the last weaving a little bit easier:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock7.jpg

When you are done, tie the weaving thread tightly in the corner you end up with in a double knot. Now you can use seperate threads to make the 'tie-handles':
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock8.jpg

And tada! you're done and ready to put it in the cage.
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock9.jpg

The first reaction of Runner:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock10.jpg

It might be some effort to put into, but it is a nice little hammock, the hamsters have implemented in their ''I'm crazy I'm crazy look how fast I can run anywhere'' running route. Even though I was more hoping they would sleep in it, but I guess it still has a funny smell which is not totally theirs yet.
I have spend about a good hour on this, and I will make another one when my big cage arrives this week so they both have one to play with!

annie81
08-24-2010, 02:01 AM
that is awesome!!!! have to try that as well :-)

Hammie
08-24-2010, 02:10 AM
Really good idea. I'll be giving it a go Thanks :)

Fidgetthefirst
08-24-2010, 02:11 AM
Wow! That looks great! :D

wofunny
08-24-2010, 02:19 AM
Wow! That is fab :)

Faerydae
08-24-2010, 06:19 AM
that puts the hammock I made out of an old scarf last night to shame! haha

fluffymunchkins
08-24-2010, 06:19 AM
Brilliant!
I will have to try this one day :D
I bet your hammies will be really grateful x

Redame
08-25-2010, 12:34 AM
Thanks all :D

And that's not true Faery, at least you didn't have to go and buy stuff for it hehe :$

princess-rhi89
08-25-2010, 03:01 AM
OMG that is amazing, why have I never thought of this lol.
Fabulous, you could start your only little business, the apprentice here you come lol
looks very professional, I would pay money for one :p xx

wofunny
08-25-2010, 03:02 AM
Do you recon I could do this with regular string?

Redame
08-25-2010, 03:14 AM
Don't be silly Rhi hehe! you can easily do it yourself!

Wofunny: I am not sure, if you know that the regular string is safe for your hamster, I guess you could. I do think you should put the nails even closer to eachother if the string is thinner than 2 ply sisal. Otherwise the paws of your hammy might get trapped if the space between the threads are too big!

princess-rhi89
08-25-2010, 03:22 AM
hehe where did u get the sisal too? can u get it at a garden centre or something, I dont really know the difference between string hehe.

Redame
08-25-2010, 03:23 AM
I got it at Homebase: Sisal 2 Ply (http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=20001&partNumber=337615&Trail=searchtext>SISAL)
1 of those is more than enough to make 2 hammocks.

princess-rhi89
08-25-2010, 03:24 AM
brilliant thanks sweety, may need to get creative hehe xxx

mangoandmimi
08-25-2010, 09:01 AM
right, redame i'm off to homebase to get a chopping board some nails and some string!!!!!

Redame
08-25-2010, 01:51 PM
Gogogogo Mangoooo haha :D Let us see the results!

mangoandmimi
08-25-2010, 06:12 PM
hi well i couldnt get hold of any rope or nails lol so i kinda made my own XD well it isn't anywhere near as impressive as yours but hey :)
i thought it was a nice idea to do a hammock lol.

1502

1503

1504

mangoandmimi
08-25-2010, 06:13 PM
LOL redame your post XD

mangoandmimi
08-25-2010, 06:14 PM
yeah i couldnt get hold of any as my mum said i wasn't going anywhere - especially to make a HAMSTER TOY lol. so i kinda altered it a bit XD

Redame
08-26-2010, 12:01 AM
Hehe. Next time take her with you :P
I do think yours looks really cute though! :D What did your hammies think of it?

mangoandmimi
08-26-2010, 03:48 PM
my robos went on it fell off and now hate it :( will give it to my syrians lol XD
yeah i said i'd go with her and she said she couldnt b bothered so i said fine i'll go myself lol and she said haha dont be silly its raining lol. >.<
heehee just got 2 massive rat cages for £15 - very pleased !!

princess-rhi89
08-26-2010, 04:02 PM
oooh good buy M&M. I would be very pleased too. shame to robos are now scared hope Mango and Mimi like them x

Adam
08-27-2010, 06:43 AM
That's an awesome idea!

nichole22
09-01-2010, 12:51 PM
Hey all,

I made a little hammock for my dwarfs that only consists of sisal rope and therefore is quite safe for them to nibble on! So here is how I did it (please excuse me for the funky DIY, I'm not that experienced lol!):

You need a thick plank of wood (I used a chopping board), nails, hammer, ruler, pencil and of course a bale of sisal rope.
For dwarf hamsters a hammock of 10 by 10 cm should be big enough. Draw thinly a square of your desired size, and on the horizontal lines, mark where the nails should go with small dots. I got my nails 0,5 cm apart from eachother, which is pretty tight to weave:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock1.jpg

Then, carefully (!) start to jam in the nails on the dots:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock2.jpg

When all the nails are in, tie a tight knot on the far down-right nail, and leave a good 15 cm on the back of it:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock3.jpg

Now you can start weaving the rope up and down, around every single nail. I weaved mine quite tight, but take notice that the tighter you weave this part, the harder it is to weave the second part:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock4.jpg

When you finished weaving vertically and end up at the last nail, go totally around that nail and start weaving horizontally. You should put the threat above and below the vertical threads, all the time. Double check that you're not doing an above-above or below-below (happened to me some times!):
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock5.jpg

Push the first horizontal thread as far up as possible. Now turn the thread you are weaving with around, and make sure that you're weaving the opposite of the thread above. So where the 1st thread is going above-under-above-under, your second thread should go under-above-under-above. Keep on weaving like this, and remember to push every single thread upwards so it becomes nice and tight:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock6.jpg

When it gets harder to weave, you can remove the hammock from the nails (except from the one it is tied on). This should make the last weaving a little bit easier:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock7.jpg

When you are done, tie the weaving thread tightly in the corner you end up with in a double knot. Now you can use seperate threads to make the 'tie-handles':
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock8.jpg

And tada! you're done and ready to put it in the cage.
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock9.jpg

The first reaction of Runner:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock10.jpg

It might be some effort to put into, but it is a nice little hammock, the hamsters have implemented in their ''I'm crazy I'm crazy look how fast I can run anywhere'' running route. Even though I was more hoping they would sleep in it, but I guess it still has a funny smell which is not totally theirs yet.
I have spend about a good hour on this, and I will make another one when my big cage arrives this week so they both have one to play with!

wow thats great i am reallygoing to try that

bonkers4hamsters
12-14-2012, 11:29 AM
Wow! Love it!

Kiki_3173
12-14-2012, 02:43 PM
Hey all,

I made a little hammock for my dwarfs that only consists of sisal rope and therefore is quite safe for them to nibble on! So here is how I did it (please excuse me for the funky DIY, I'm not that experienced lol!):

You need a thick plank of wood (I used a chopping board), nails, hammer, ruler, pencil and of course a bale of sisal rope.
For dwarf hamsters a hammock of 10 by 10 cm should be big enough. Draw thinly a square of your desired size, and on the horizontal lines, mark where the nails should go with small dots. I got my nails 0,5 cm apart from eachother, which is pretty tight to weave:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock1.jpg

Then, carefully (!) start to jam in the nails on the dots:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock2.jpg

When all the nails are in, tie a tight knot on the far down-right nail, and leave a good 15 cm on the back of it:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock3.jpg

Now you can start weaving the rope up and down, around every single nail. I weaved mine quite tight, but take notice that the tighter you weave this part, the harder it is to weave the second part:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock4.jpg

When you finished weaving vertically and end up at the last nail, go totally around that nail and start weaving horizontally. You should put the threat above and below the vertical threads, all the time. Double check that you're not doing an above-above or below-below (happened to me some times!):
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock5.jpg

Push the first horizontal thread as far up as possible. Now turn the thread you are weaving with around, and make sure that you're weaving the opposite of the thread above. So where the 1st thread is going above-under-above-under, your second thread should go under-above-under-above. Keep on weaving like this, and remember to push every single thread upwards so it becomes nice and tight:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock6.jpg

When it gets harder to weave, you can remove the hammock from the nails (except from the one it is tied on). This should make the last weaving a little bit easier:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock7.jpg

When you are done, tie the weaving thread tightly in the corner you end up with in a double knot. Now you can use seperate threads to make the 'tie-handles':
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock8.jpg

And tada! you're done and ready to put it in the cage.
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock9.jpg

The first reaction of Runner:
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/Redame22/Hammock10.jpg

It might be some effort to put into, but it is a nice little hammock, the hamsters have implemented in their ''I'm crazy I'm crazy look how fast I can run anywhere'' running route. Even though I was more hoping they would sleep in it, but I guess it still has a funny smell which is not totally theirs yet.
I have spend about a good hour on this, and I will make another one when my big cage arrives this week so they both have one to play with!


Thank SOOOOO much for the DIY! I made one of these (altered the size a little) for my Syrian, Darwin, and he loves it :).

Ice.creame
01-07-2013, 06:39 PM
i looooooooove the hammock im really going to do this for my syrians :)