Hi my HC friends!
Long time, no see!!
Wonder has always been in a Savic Hamster Heaven cage. She has progressively developed a bar chewing habit. I tried all the obvious remedies (cage rearrange/add more toys/chews/attach chews/pegs to the bars, etc)
We have had to move her out of the bedroom because it's just too loud at night.
I don't want to keep her out of the bedroom long term so I planned on making her a new cage!
I saw Vanillahamham's linnmon build and went to ikea to investigate.
I didn't really like how chunky the linnmon boards were but I did pick up a glass shelve (roughly 80cm x 35cm) from the bargain area.
I planned to make something similar but out of re purposed chipboard.
I primed them with a generic dulux primer we had and then I used rustoleum painters touch paint (like this -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Rust-Oleum-...9985901&chn=ps ) on the sides and rustoleum painter's touch enamel (like this -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rust-Oleum-...c=1&th=1&psc=1 ) on the base in an attempt to waterproof it.
Both paints are toy safe and I do believe i've read that they are safe to use on this forum (please correct me if I am wrong)
So that's where i've gotten to -
1 x base (chipboard with thin plywood mounted ontop) with painters touch enamel applied
2 x sides and 1 x backboard with primer and painters touch paint applied
I now feel like i've made some pretty big errors and would love some advice on how I might be able to salvage this project.
I now believe chipboard may not be suitable. very chewable? possibly toxic?
and the primer I used may pose a risk to wonder's health also?
and are the two painter's touch products I used above even safe??
should I start again? or just give in and buy a cage?
or is it possible to sufficiently hamproof what I have already made?
Expenses have already totted up so perhaps I should cut my losses.
Hope this all makes sense. I think i'm rambling a little.