jocardi's new playpen

[lady jocardi]

My hubby has been busy this afternoon making a hammy playpen from plywood. Its just 4 lengths of ply taped together with strong black tape. She won't be in it unsupervised so she won't get chance to chew it. We did it with tape so we can fold it....it stores nicely behind the sofa.
You can see ive also but in my ' cooling tray monkey bars'......again.. for now held together with tape...just experimental at the mo.....
She enjoyed running around in there tonight, but didnt go for a climb.

[2LittlePuds]

Thats really good :) ive always wondered what people do about pee and poop going on the floor when their hams are in these sort of playpens.

[lady jocardi]

Thankfully there were no accidents this evening! She was only in it for 20 mins. We will have to think about that. We won't normally have it on the fluffy rug either!

[2LittlePuds]

Im planning on making a playpen like this but with some strong cardboard i have. I was thinking maybe using a blanket/bed sheet that would only get used for Squibbles over the carpet. Unless i just put it in the back of the house where its wood flooring.

Is that just an oven rack you've used for climbing?

[lady jocardi]

Its a cake cooling tray. £1 from Home Bargains .....jocardi likes hanging upside down! Was worth a go!

[Skeever]

Pee and poo on the carpet.....hasn't anyone ever heard of 'throw rugs'? :D If it gets really bad, just put a new piece of furniture over the stained area ;)

[lady jocardi]

Yup...will use a throw in future x

[2LittlePuds]

Thats what ive done in the kids playroom ;) although not over their pee and poop #-o

Think i need a trip to home bargains. Thats a really good price, ive been after some cake cooling trays for a while but werent paying online prices. And i can get an extra one for Squibbles :) have you just put it low enough so jocardi can reach it standing on her back legs?

[Esmy]

Looks great and I love the cooling rack idea! Gizmo likes to climb his meshed lid when I put it on the floor for free roam, but the others could use more climbing stuff in the playpens. :)

[lady jocardi]

Yes 2littlepuds. She can reach it.. but didnt attempt to hang tough tonight. Maybe next time x

[ianpallen]

My mate brought me 4 lengths of laminate flooring. I will be making a playpen out of it. I have some thick polythene somewhere, I put that on the floor then the playpen ontop of it. I did have some for the rabbit playpen, but she decided to dig through it and chew it. lol. Some is covering my petrol lawnmower engine as the mower shed leaks when it rains. lol. I have some rolled up but got to find it.

[2LittlePuds]

Ian how are you going to connect the corners? I have loads of wood flooring that i could use.

[ianpallen]

I am thinking either I will drill holes and cable tie them, or add some 1" x 1" and hinge them. I have a bike innertube that I was thinking if cutting down the length and stapling down the corners so it is a rubber hinge. But I cant find the heavy duty staples. :confused:

I was also thinking of fixing some wood to the edges and screwing little eyes to the wood, two on each piece and then putting a metal rod through them or a tent peg, if I have some somewhere.

[ianpallen]

I have cut one length in half for the ends and have two lengths for the sides. i have drilled the holes and put cable ties through and these act as hinges, but are not really strong enough. I think it could do with wood down the corners and either some clipd or hinges.
Bag of food is for scale of the size of it. It is 51" x 25"
http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx46/ianallen2/diy%20stuff/playpen2002_zpsa4242a03.jpg (http://s740.photobucket.com/user/ianallen2/media/diy%20stuff/playpen2002_zpsa4242a03.jpg.html)

[2LittlePuds]

That looks good. I have the stuff to do exactly the same thing. What makes you think the cable ties arent strong enough?

[ianpallen]

When I moved it from the shed to the livingroom, two of the cable ties came undone and one snapped. They are only thin ones.

[Scampi16]

Thats really good :) ive always wondered what people do about pee and poop going on the floor when their hams are in these sort of playpens.

when i used the trixie playpen i used to put an old clean towel on th efloor to catch anything thatmay come, now i use a childrens ball pit as a playpen, this has a built in floor so just tp it out/clean it

[SunnyOy]

the wheel looks so small, it must hurt hamster's back

[flowerfairy]

You can get reusable metal cable ties.

An oil cloth (table cloth) makes good flooring under a playpen, esp if the edges are outside the pen to discourage chewing.

Ball pit sounds like a great idea. Is it easy to store away?

[Pebbles82]

This is quite an old thread Sunny!

[flowerfairy]

Oh yes, 2014!!!!

[Pebbles82]

Lol! I think Sunny was looking up playpens.