DIY help, Hamster Tubes

[alanjamesblair]

Well, it's come to this. The tubes they sell near me and the ones I can afford are all too small for Magellan, my Syrian. He is such a sweetie, and even though he doesn't need tubes, I'm thinking of making some to a)connect a second bin (not yet made) and b)just to give him another thing to explore! He loves three things in this life, his ball, exploring, and peeing on me. Although I don't wish to encourage the last one, I want desperately to satisfy the first two. (oh, I forgot mealworms, sunflower seeds, carrots, etc).

Anyway, I've been experimenting with plastic bottles and plastic welding. I haven't gotten too far yet and already I'd love some help. I've found these:

Plastic Smithing: How To Make your own HDPE Plastic Anything (DIY plastic lumber) (http://www.instructables.com/id/HomemadePlastic/)

Your hamster's new home (http://www.instructables.com/id/Your-hamsters-new-home/)

They seem helpful. But as the person who made the tubes out of drinking bottles said, his method creates tubes that are for supervised use only. I want to create permanent tubes. I already have in mind what kind of molds I need. I am comfortable working with plastic, wood and limited metal work (hardware, but no welding and limited soldering skills). I am a woodworker so I feel very confident with that medium and am enjoying my budding plastic-smithing.

My requirements are that the result be something 1) safe (of course) and big enough for Maggie, 2) clear (so he can see out) and 3) detachable for cleaning and detaching/portability etc.

So here's the $100 question (well, I'm a poor grad student, so let's make that a $10 question): Have any of you done this? What have you found that works/doesn't work?

I deeply appreciate any advice. BTW I love DIY, so I know there are headaches involved, but, to quote Hannibal Smith from the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together."

[bonkers4hamsters]

What about drainpipes? Surely they have got to be big enough for a syrian and I would assume pretty cheap but very easy to get hold of

[alanjamesblair]

Drainpipes led me back here: Product Listing PVC-CLEAR-PIPE-UV-Thinwall (http://flexpvc.com/cart/agora.cgi?product=PVC-CLEAR-PIPE-UV-Thinwall) Problem being it seems just as expensive if not more than Ferplast. Hmmm...but good suggestion! I'll keep looking.

[strawberrysmom]

I keep coming back here to see if anyone gives you suggestions. I thought of PVC too but how would they climb up? My only thought on that was for someone who had an electric saw could cut the pipe in half and then cut grooves inside it for gripping and then glue the tube halves back together. But only someone that has all those tools and the appropriate place to use them could do something like that.

Those clear tubes are awesome. I didn't know they had see through PVC. If it's still considered "PVC" ...

THe water bottle idea is SO clever and looks so good but I guess they could chew through it. If it was a chewing ham. Some hams aren't really chewers. None of mine are oddly enough and I have four.

[alanjamesblair]

:) Maggie's a selective chewer too. I almost have to beg him. Apple sticks and his plastic wheel are all I've found he'll chew.

I'm pretty stumped on this one, I'll admit.

[strawberrysmom]

Bob loves his Apple Sticks too!!! It's the only thing I've seen him chew for recreation!

[alanjamesblair]

That is funny! Does he chew them all the time? Magellan only chews freshly opened apple sticks! So picky!

Also, something about the original thread, blah blah. I am actually working on this, using something that Strawberrysmom suggested in another thread about harvesting parts from those old torture chambers ("hamster cages") we all have lying around from before we found this community of enlightened hamster owners. I've drilled holes in a few of the parts and have hardware, but the tubes are turning out a bit iffy (water bottle plastic welding style). Also, I went to buy a second bin tonight and wmrt is no longer carrying the one I used before (the 105 qt Sterolite). So I'm a little defeated, but pressing on.

[alanjamesblair]

Well, I have succeeded. I made the second bin (found at another Walmart, same as the first one) and have attached the water bottle tubes. More info to come, but basically, I used a little trig to cut the bent pieces in two places and then hot-glued the pieces together. For connectors, I used slips of plastic. As I said, I'll explain more later, but the important bit is that this is possible and not so hard (time consuming maybe, but not hard).

[strawberrysmom]

It came to me the other day- what about metal dryer tubing? The harder aluminum kind with the ridges but not the foil ones. I was thinking about getting those for my gerbils. Pictures when you get a chance please!!!! I have been wondering about your project!!!

[alanjamesblair]

http://imageshack.us/a/img94/7217/1130020323a.jpg
This is the tube connecting to the bottom bin.

http://imageshack.us/a/img7/3461/1130020323.jpg
Connecting to the top bin

http://www.hamstercentral.com/community/http://imageshack.us/a/img254/3922/1130020322a.jpg
Running along the side on a shelf I made for it with some left-over plastic from the top of the top bin.

[alanjamesblair]

Well, the first two links worked, but now it's giving me broken links to the image files. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, maybe I'm using up too much space? I hope to make a video sometime soon of this.

[alanjamesblair]

I'm sorry if there are any duplicates here. I'm having trouble working between the gallery and the thread. But here are some other (?) photos. Like I said, I hope to make a video soon, but if there are any questions I'd be happy to take a stab.

1130020323 - Hamster Central Photo Gallery (http://www.hamstercentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1309&title=1130020323&cat=500)

1130020323a - Hamster Central Photo Gallery (http://www.hamstercentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1310&title=1130020323a&cat=500)

1130020322 - Hamster Central Photo Gallery (http://www.hamstercentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1307&title=1130020322&cat=500)

1130020322a - Hamster Central Photo Gallery (http://www.hamstercentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1308&title=1130020322a&cat=all)

[strawberrysmom]

Wow " great work!!!!! I love the new bin too! I bet Maggie is loving it!!