Repurposing an unsuitable hamster cage

[BrainGirl]

*Mods feel free to move this thread somewhere else. It's not a project to make something for a hamster but to take something meant for a hamster and turn it into something else

I've been sitting here sewing chinchilla hammocks and doing chinchilla laundry most of the morning and decided I wanted to do something else for a break. I wanted to do some gardening but it's pouring rain atm and I didn't really want to get wet. Then I remembered all those tiny cages I've been saving up that I've found secondhand or that came with hamsters I'd adopted! I had more but I donated most of them to a local animal rescue to be used as carriers. I hope they took my advice anyway. From now on I'm not going to take that chance

This particular project will be to turn hamster cages into catnip cages! I don't know about you, but every time I've had a pot of catnip around, my cat always ends up eating it to the ground or rolling on it and it inevitably dies

First, the list of supplies:

Drill & bit (I used a spade bit)
Fine mesh or netting (I used the netting my onion sets came in-more recycling!)
Soil or soil substitute (I'm using coir (coconut) fibre)
Small stones or garden pumice (optional)
Watering can or hose with a fine nozzle for seeds
Some sort of cat-safe fertilizer

[BrainGirl]

Step 1: Drill your holes in any pattern you think best. Go slowly and don't put much pressure on the drill, the plastic is likely to be brittle and cracks easily! Just look at the pretty plastic confetti I made

Step 2: Cut your mesh or net and lay it in the bottom of your cage base to cover the holes you've just made. This will help to keep the soil from spilling out every time you water

Step 3: Put your small stones in the bottom if you're using them, an inch or so. I didn't put any in the red base, partly to see if it made a difference, but also because it's the shallowest and I wanted room for more soil!

Step 4: Put any solid fertilizers on the bottom, before you add the soil. As I'm using coir fibre which is really poor in nutrients, I've opted to add alfalfa pellets. It's available at farm supply stores and is used as both a feed and a fertilizer. It's safe-ish to give to my pets but as it's made with pure alfalfa and is quite rich I choose not to. In this form it looks just like giant rabbit pellets

Step 5: Soil!

[BrainGirl]

Step 6: Sow your seeds. If you've got a steady hand you can just sprinkle it straight from the package. Or sow them in rows. Or whatever makes you happy! They're seeds. They don't really care as long as their needs are met

Step 7: Water them in. The water will help to press the seeds into contact with the soil so there's really no need to worry about covering them with more soil imho. I opted to add concentrated liquid kelp fertilizer to the water. It's loaded with micronutrients and plant hormones that will help to trigger germination, especially given that the pelleted fertilizer that I've already added won't be available to the plants until they've grown a bit. Should have taken this picture before I started measuring out the kelp because I spilled it all over the place. The smell isn't overpowering but I would describe it as somewhere between manure and iodine...

Last picture: Here they are, lined up on a shelf in the greenhouse, waiting to germinate! I really recommend covering them with a sheet of glass until they sprout but it's not essential. Just make sure the soil surface stays moist and you should be ok

The green one on the left has a different catnip seed brand sown because I ran out of the first. They were leftovers that I'd saved for years and it's such an old package I'm not sure they'll grow. If they don't then I'll just go out and buy more and replant that one!

[Esmy]

Aww cute, great ideas!! They also look like good kitty litter pans. LOL

[BrainGirl]

Oops! Forgot to mention. Once the plants have begun to grow, you put the wire top back on. Then the cats can eat only what grows through the bars

[BrainGirl]

Originally Posted by Esmy

Aww cute, great ideas!! They also look like good kitty litter pans. LOL

That's true, but that leaves the pan intact and potentially someone can come along and reuse it for a hamster! Also it doesn't make use of the whole cage. Plus, you can buy kitty little pans anywhere, but where can you buy a catnip cage?

[Esmy]

True! I was just going to ask about the wire tops. lol

How are they going to eat what grows in the middle?

[BrainGirl]

They won't! That's the beauty of it They can only eat what they can reach (or what you harvest for them) and not be able to eat it right back to nothing and kill the plant!

[RedSky]

What a super idea! What a great way to use them and stop others ever been able to use them as hamster cages, I love it.
I use the my old habitrail domes in a similar way but I made little gardens for the gerbils and hamsters. Since they are covered but do have some ventilation the seeds germinate and grow really quickly, and I use hamster safe seeds I found on ebay and a few others that I have picked up.
I simply connect from the habitrail into the tank or stick the habitrail garden into the cage depending on how well it would fit.

[BrainGirl]

I've seen that hamster seed mix on ebay! I'd love to get it but though I've emailed the seller more than once I've never heard back