Originally Posted by otto
Hello there! Just wanted to pop in and shed some light on the Plasta. I’ve made the 120x60 one, and completely adore it. Best decision I’ve ever made, so if anyone has any questions let me know.
Now, I used the Vard Glass door from Ikea as my front panel- 120x60, so it fit well. This is going out of stock, and has already in the UK, so if you want to do it, do it ASAP (if it hasn’t already been discontinued where you live!)
Using this door meant any misalignments meant no issue as there is a thick wooden section that can be screwed to the base. This meant where the two sides were a tiny bit off I could just silicon the gaps, and I couldn’t see a visible difference. I’ve quoted your passage there, as from this I can say cutting a panel out from the wood will as a result be your best course of action (if you can’t get a hold of the Vard.)
There are little holes running along the bottom, so I used aquarium silicon to fill them up individually. If you use the Vard, depending on which way you assemble it, you will have either a gap at the back of the cage, at the top or on the bottom that falls short to the front. Just slot in a bit of wood. This doesn’t affect the function of the cage but just aesthetics, and also makes it easier to make a lid. The front of my Vard sits just above the rest of the cage, so as a result I could make a lid that sat behind it so in hindsight it wouldn’t be seen. We couldn’t be bothered to scale the wood down in thickness so there is a slight overhang but you at least have the option of making it discreet.
PROS:
- 60cm of height. I had 12inchs of bedding throughout before having a little redecorating with the addition of platforms etc.
- Nice length, you can fit a lot in.
- No issue at all sticking a 12inch wheel inside
- The 60cm width means you can double up on enrichment width ways, and makes the hamster less stressed as it isn’t a long chute.
- It is STURDY! If you have concerns about the niteangel, this can be your go too. Just add metal brackets to the inside or outside of the cage as you require to hold everything together. If i dropped this thing off the top of my house it wouldn’t break. Swear.
- Reasonably cheap for the size- cost me around £110 all in all (not including the lid), but inc. the Vard, brackets, legs for the cage & shipping. If you can go to a local ikea you’ll get £40 knocked off of that price.
CONS:
- The misalignment is a bit of pain, but for the quality of cage you get after it, it’s all worth it.
- It’s heavy
- It’s not going to be perfect as it’s a DIY cage, but it’s pretty damn close.
Hope this helps others out! I’ll attach some pictures below of when it was first made (The lid has since been painted and holes filled in.)
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