Bin Cage!!!

[Goliath]

So I just made a bin cage this weekend. It's amazing. I used pieces from an old playpen that he honest to god hated, and the front of his old cage for to door. Goliath loves his new cage!!!
I would get you guys pictures but alas, I have not a camera to my name and no way to get it on here anyway. :/

[wofunny]

Sounds good! :D

Shame about pictures :(

[Goliath]

God, it took me all Saturday to really get started but once I did it was easy. A tip to those using a soldering iron: Let gravity help you!!! :D
He has so much more room for toys and what-not and it's much easier to move. It's gonna be a pain to clean though, I can tell.

[Gillzy]

Well done! :)

[Goliath]

So many zip ties. O.O

[KutButLykee]

:L Find a way to get pictures!

[Goliath]

Don't tell me what to do! >_> <.< Hehehe.
I used a 50 gallon clear tote bin.

[Iluvhamsters]

Sounds great :) Pity about the pictures though.

[Goliath]

Yeah... this morning he decided it would be very funny to put his toilet paper bedding up to his waterbottle so that it leaked...

[alexarcano]

Cool. As many have said, shame about you not being able to post any pics. :(

Here's the latest mods to mine.
The bottom box will be the next add-on which will be a big sandbox / play area of Buster ;)
This is going to be joined internally to the top bin with a ramp. I'm going to put a hole in the base of the upper bin and the lid of the lower. There will also be a tub with a hole in the bottom, glued around the hole in the floor of the top bin to prevent as much bedding as possable from escaping to the lower level.
Good luck with yours, hope it has given you as much satisfaction to build as it is fun for Goliath to play in. :D

[mangoandmimi]

Sounds good :) Shame about pictures :(

[Goliath]

very nice, Alex!!! :D

[alexarcano]

Thanks! A lot of recycling going on in that bin, the 'wire' on top is actually the safety cage from an old electric fan! I think it gives it a nice dome on top I was thinking of making a swinging platform that hangs underneath so that Buster could poke his nose out of when he gets nosey :)

Tip for the day: Just look at things lying around and see how they can be adapted to your purposes. Fan parts as mesh, platforms from old monitor stands, hamster bed from (an un-used) birdhouse, treat dispenser from toilet paper tube, small hamster powered interdimensional rift generator from busted up microwave. Things like that :D

Think outside the box....

Think....... (to praphrase) If you can find them, in the L.A. underground, these soldiers of fortune, The A-Team, who can make a small but servicable tank in 2 hours out of nothing but a water heater, 2 Tons of fireworks, a forklift truck, and a fully stocked machine shop ;)
Ah, the pitfalls of too much TV during a mis-spent youth :D

[Goliath]

:P Very nice. Will look around for awesome parts. :P

[Gillzy]

small hamster powered interdimensional rift generator from busted up microwave. Things like that :D

Hahahaha! I actually burst out laughing and my OH thought I was mad.

If only!

Although (but nowhere near as cool), my friend suggested he could make a hamster powered light for Sen's cage - by making a wheel connected to one haha - don't think he realises nocturnal means "don't like light" haha.

[alexarcano]

yes, but relatively simple to do.

Not that i have given it much thought... but...

In a masterly bit of recycling I used the motor thats inside an old X-box controller (the one that does the big 'rumble') to create a mini generator from a garden windmill (those plastic and material brightly coloured things), and attatched it to an LED assembly from a broken torch. A small amount of re-gearing and it should work fine to operate from the hamster wheel instead of wind power.
You could put longer wiring on it and put the light or even a buzzer in another room so that you could tell... when... he's.... awake.........

What?

Why are you looking at me like that?

I'm telling you. 80's TV has soooo much to answer for. :s

[Goliath]

>.>
Okay, besides that, I was thinking about using a shorter bin to make him a penthouse sort of thing up top of his cage. What do you think??

[Gillzy]

Just make sure that you don't have any vertical tubes going up to the roof, as dwarves can't climb those kinds of tubes, you'd need to build it up gradually with diagonal tubes. But I'm sure Goliath would like a bedroom ;P

[Goliath]

That or he'll completely reject it and pop my dreams with his suspiciously sharp teeth. >.> But I'll be sure to do so... somehow...

[Goliath]

by the way, he seems actually quite capable of climbing vertically, if you know what I mean. He climbes quite a few things vertical-like. Little Satanic spawn. :P I loves him.

[Gillzy]

Haha. Well it's usually because tubes are quite slidy and dwarves have furry paws which aren't so good for gripping.

[Goliath]

well i have the bubble tubes, the ones that are easy for him to climb. :P

[Goliath]

Another thing I might do is as a shelf, but do any of you ahve any idea what i could use?

[Gillzy]

You could use a cardboard box like this: http://www.hamstercentral.com/community/housing/13631-household-items-toys-2.html#post161430

[Goliath]

I made one out of a shoebox... but I'm not sure I like it. I'm worried cuz it doesn't fit right and I worry about him catching his paw on the side.