Hamster Central - View Single Post - DIY double cage out of a Ikea Bookcase! Door issues 😞

MissJeliza · 04-21-2019, 11:43 AM

Hi guys, I have two hamsters, Dwarf and Syrian and I’m creating a double cage for both out of a Ikea bookcase.

I can’t remeber the name of the bookcase, I’ll link it if I can, but it has 4 levels, each separated by horizontal shelves and small vertical shelf peices.

The cage itself is two levels each with a vertical section on the bottom level for each which creates a small area that I’m planning to fill with wood shavings to create a digging/ possible nesting area for each.
I’m not sure if it’s obvious but each hamster has its own cage, consisting of two levels and a digging area, they cannot get into each other’s cage and the bookcase is very big!

We’ve managed to get it together so far like this:
Levels are in place, small sections are in place, holes have been cut in the top level of each cage that leads down to the bottom and the top cage has an extra section to climb through.
We’ve created a door for each cage, which is attached! The issue we are facing is with the door.
We cannot get it to lock
We’ve bought a generic lock for each, a bolt lock that slides across and theoretically bolts the door in place, however even when the lock is engaged and slid across it’s not locking at all! It still opens like the lock isn’t even there!
The locks attached to both sides correctly, one side to the side of the bookcase and the other to the door but still! It opens!

I’m so frustrated! The cage is so close to being ready! After this all that’s needed is to lock it and start filling the cage with substrate and toys! Ect

Any idea how else we could create a locking mechanism for the door?
We’ve looked at a hook and bolt but that won’t work either!

04-21-2019, 11:43 AM
MissJeliza Hamster Pup Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: England Posts: 69	DIY double cage out of a Ikea Bookcase! Door issues 😞 Hi guys, I have two hamsters, Dwarf and Syrian and I’m creating a double cage for both out of a Ikea bookcase. I can’t remeber the name of the bookcase, I’ll link it if I can, but it has 4 levels, each separated by horizontal shelves and small vertical shelf peices. The cage itself is two levels each with a vertical section on the bottom level for each which creates a small area that I’m planning to fill with wood shavings to create a digging/ possible nesting area for each. I’m not sure if it’s obvious but each hamster has its own cage, consisting of two levels and a digging area, they cannot get into each other’s cage and the bookcase is very big! We’ve managed to get it together so far like this: Levels are in place, small sections are in place, holes have been cut in the top level of each cage that leads down to the bottom and the top cage has an extra section to climb through. We’ve created a door for each cage, which is attached! The issue we are facing is with the door. We cannot get it to lock We’ve bought a generic lock for each, a bolt lock that slides across and theoretically bolts the door in place, however even when the lock is engaged and slid across it’s not locking at all! It still opens like the lock isn’t even there! The locks attached to both sides correctly, one side to the side of the bookcase and the other to the door but still! It opens! I’m so frustrated! The cage is so close to being ready! After this all that’s needed is to lock it and start filling the cage with substrate and toys! Ect Any idea how else we could create a locking mechanism for the door? We’ve looked at a hook and bolt but that won’t work either!