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Old 01-18-2020, 11:38 AM   #1
OliverS
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Manchester, UK
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Default Homemade Bin Cage Advice

Hi all,

Firstly, sorry for the essay. Questions at the bottom of you don’t want to read it all (wouldn’t blame you).

Looking for a bit of advice from you hammy geniuses as I’m still a relative novice to having my own that my dad didn’t look after.

I’m making a couple of bin cages for my babies as I’m having to split them up. They’re currently in a Pico XL which I’ve recently been informed is too small for them but they love the shelves so I’m wanting to put at least one or two in their new bins.

What is the best material to make the shelves out of? I’ve seen a couple of threads but I just wanted to confirm. Obviously plywood, chipboard, etc. are no-nos but what’s good, cheap and easy to use? I’m going to make a shelf and legs out of the same and use non-toxic hot glue to stick it together.

TLDR; in order to stop explaining every question, list of questions below:

1) What is a good, cheap, easy to use material to make shelves, ramps to shelves, etc.?
2) Is hot glue to make the shelves acceptable if it’s non-toxic and any leakage is cleaned up? If not, how can I attach legs to a shelf?
3) What is the best way to attach a water bottle? I’ve seen Velcro mentioned but I don’t want it to curl around the bottle and the hammies to hurt themselves on it if it’s too wide?
4) What size holes in the mesh are the minimum and maximum?
5) Does anyone know where I can get a cage door from (UK based)? I can doctor the current cage for one but I could do with another.


Thank you in advance guys.

Last edited by OliverS; 01-18-2020 at 12:17 PM.
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Old 01-18-2020, 11:51 AM   #2
OliverS
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Default Re: Homemade Bin Cage Advice

Should also mention I’m based in the UK so I might not be able to get materials which are easily sourced in other countries or get to shops which are common in other countries
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Old 01-18-2020, 12:24 PM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Homemade Bin Cage Advice

You can use kiln dried pine from a DIY store for shelves, I use 10 or 15 cm dowels from ebay for legs or you could get longer ones & cut them to size.
I'm not totally sure about hot glue tbh, I use Ponal, available from amazon, it is expensive but safe & strong, if you want to ptotect the shelves & make them easy to clean you can paint them with Plastikoe water based enamel too.
I've never used velcro but I think you can just stick it onto the back of the bottle. I,ve found the Rodipet stands really good.
https://www.rodipet.co.uk/accessorie...s-and-bottles/
Can't rememer what size my mesh is offhand, I'll have to check that.
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Old 01-18-2020, 12:47 PM   #4
OliverS
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Default Re: Homemade Bin Cage Advice

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
You can use kiln dried pine from a DIY store for shelves, I use 10 or 15 cm dowels from ebay for legs or you could get longer ones & cut them to size.
I'm not totally sure about hot glue tbh, I use Ponal, available from amazon, it is expensive but safe & strong, if you want to ptotect the shelves & make them easy to clean you can paint them with Plastikoe water based enamel too.
I've never used velcro but I think you can just stick it onto the back of the bottle. I,ve found the Rodipet stands really good.
https://www.rodipet.co.uk/accessorie...s-and-bottles/
Can't rememer what size my mesh is offhand, I'll have to check that.
Thank you Cypher.

I’ll have a look at the kiln dried pine, looks easy to find. The dowels sound good as well.
Ponal looks good to me, I’ll grab some of that, and some plastikote.
I’m going to see if Velcro works because the Rodipet stuff is in euros and my bank won’t be a fan of that but I’ll keep it in mind for if Velcro doesn’t work.
I’m guessing it won’t really matter that much because it’ll be on top of quite a tall box but I don’t want to risk it with my little ones being very climby. I’ve seen some 50mm mesh relatively cheap which looks alright I think. I’ll keep googling
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Old 01-18-2020, 01:01 PM   #5
Salem13
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Default Re: Homemade Bin Cage Advice

Personally I just use straight up cardboard or popsicle sticks. I like cardboard the best specifically because I already have so much of it, it's easy to work with, and my hamster loves to chew it. Once it gets too chewed up or if he pees on it I can always just make another one. If you want to make them more 'pretty' you can use wrapping paper.

You can use a toilet paper tube for a water bottle holder too, just poke a hole about a third of the way up for the nozzle to go through and maybe a piece of cardboard on the bottom to stabilize it more. Or you could use a bowl.

The mesh I use for my dwarf is 1/2 inch (just over 12mm) and is about as big as I would personally go. He can fit his nose through.

As for a cage door you may have the best luck looking for secondhand and/or broken cages.

Last edited by Salem13; 01-18-2020 at 01:08 PM.
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Old 01-18-2020, 03:24 PM   #6
Ria P
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Default Re: Homemade Bin Cage Advice

I bought cheap pipe clips from the B&Q plumbing section, drill a hole through it and bin then attach with a small bolt and washer/nut on the outside. I cut the bits that would hold the pipe in place off. Holds the bottle in place nicely.
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Old 01-18-2020, 03:32 PM   #7
Ria P
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Default Re: Homemade Bin Cage Advice

Cheap way to make a free standing bottle holder is by using a plastic bottle with weights like pebbles or marbles. Works well for dwarves.
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Old 01-18-2020, 03:59 PM   #8
Engel
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Default Re: Homemade Bin Cage Advice

I don't have a shelf in my bin cage, just a real deep bit of bedding for burrowing. I have seen people use magazine holders.

Personally I use velcro on the back of the bottle. You can always try and use a water bowl instead.

I use 1/4" spacing although I guess 1/2", will be ok for Syrian.

If you're using a storage bin then I just cut a window in the lid and that's where I put the mesh
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