Iv finnaly decided to try bin cages

[Ham Ham Hamstery]

Well Iv decided to try making some and Im gonna buy parts for them soon as I get the money how do I make bars in bin cages though?

[Ham Ham Hamstery]

How big should the bin be I suck at math :P

[SnickersTheFirst]

If you have an old playpen or cage, you can use those bars. If not then mesh will do fine.

You're looking at about 80x50cm if you can for a Syrian.

[Ham Ham Hamstery]

Now mesh can't me chewed through by hamsters can it? Just wanna be sure

[souffle]

It has to be the weld mesh (like little squares) or metal cloth ham ham. Chciken wire type is no use as the wire is too fine. Look at the size of the bins in the shop and choose a really big one that will offer lots of floor space. There is a WIKI page with instructions on the forum and lots of people have ideas on making these on their sites.

[Nagrom]

My hamster chewed through mesh,with ease.So if I was you I'd rather use bars,bars are also easier.

[Ham Ham Hamstery]

I'm getting a $200 today were having a garage sale I make $200 a day just selling video games and computer related stuff so I'll buy some good stuff

[AlexWyattMommy]

To help you - both Lowe's and HomeDepot sell smaller rolls of wire mesh fencing material. At Lowe's it is outside in the garden center, at HD it over by the contractor wood and stuff. It was in small alcove area that also sold the ladders. We both two different sizes, one a little bit larger squares and one smaller squares. Go with the smaller squares, it is easier to work with. We used wire cutters to cut the fence to size.

I have purchased bins from HD and Target. The Target ones are easier to see through and longer, but the HD ones are taller. The 11" Wodent Wheel fits fine in the HD one, but you need to make sure the cut the hole in the lid long enough so you can bend the wire up to make room in the Target one. If you have the 8" wheel, it won't matter.

I also purchased a very tall bin from Costco. This one works great for the 11" wheel, but we had to cut the sides for ventilation because the lid was made with rectangle partitions that could not be cut through. It also more opaque than the other two so the side vents are like windows too. I will take pictures later of it as we made a very cute little second level for it.

To cut through the lid or sides we use a reciprocating saw. I am not sure what else can be used. I saw recommendations to drill holes in the corners and cut from hole to hole. My DH drilled the holes in the middle of each line to be cut and cut to the corners. We made the dimensions to work with the width of the fencing. So there was only one cut to made on the fencing.

The directions I've seen are really great. The ones with pictures helped us out a lot.

We used bolts, washers and nuts to attach the screen to the plastic. My friend used plastic zip ties. Use what you have or is less expensive for you. My husband does lots of wood working and we have tons of hardware, so the metal fasteners was best for us.

ETA: It was the 106qt size at HD and 110qt size at Target for the bins.

[Ham Ham Hamstery]

Yeah Im gonna buy stuff from Lowes thats all we have and Walmart

[AlexWyattMommy]

I did not check the bins at Walmart.

Let me know if you have any questions.