Photo Guide to Making a Bin Cage

[Spunki]

great cage, i will some of them for my hams too

[CAtrin]

Thank you great tips and advise

[Erin.R]

I am just in the process of making my first of 6 bin cages. I used the soldering iron to cu the whole. My question is, On the inside the soldering iron made the plastic kind of bumpy, so its not flat there's a lip. Should I use some sand paper to smooth it out or will it be ok. My Sammy is trying very very hard to break out of the cage he is in now although I can't blame him, he is a pretty big Syrian and the cage is kind of small but the biggest one they had at petsmart for hamsters. So, are these pretty hard to break out of if I am careful to tie everything down tight?

[Kiki_3173]

I used sandpaper to get rid of the bumpy plastic on Darwin's bin cage. Also, if you put the mesh on the inside of the bin, Sammy won't be able to chew on it because the mesh will cover the bumpy part.

Darwin has never broken out of his bin cage however, he isn't really a Houdini or one to chew very much. He really likes his bin. He started out in a Crittertrail from PetSmart because I didn't know any better at the time. After finding HC, I immediately made his bin cage & he's been happy ever since If you are worried about it, I put binder clips (aka bulldog clips) to hold his lid to the rest of the bin at night, just in case.

[Erin.R]

Thank you! I am hoping this helps him to be happier, he does have a Crittertrail cage, the biggest one they had but its too small for him and he spends half the night in the corner sawing away at the bars with his teeth. I feel bad for other hamsters out there in these tiny cages. I am so glad I found this site, I had never heard of a bin cage. I will sand down the edges and pay close attention to make sure he doesn't find an escape route.

[WendyAnne]

I sanded down the bin cutout edges with a metal file I bought at Home Depot, and then I finished smoothing with a medium sanding block. We attached the wire mesh with zip ties every 1.5 to 2 inches on each side of the cutout. The mesh seems to be secured very tightly. Good luck with your bin cage!

[alanjamesblair]

Most plastics will take kindly to a paint scraper. Cheaper if that's a concern. That and a hobby knife should take off those edges too. Mind the sharps.

[Truffle]

Brilliant! really useful...

[Erin.R]

I got it done yay! He seems to love it. When he was in the small, really I should say tiny cage he spent half the night sawing on the bars with his teeth. I have not noticed him doing any of that. He loves his wheel but I want to get an even bigger one, it's 8 1/2 inch's but he is a pretty long hamster so his head still looks tilted back too much which I read is not good, I am thinking 11 inch would be good, a wodent wheel? Thank you so much for this post I was so sad to see him in such a small cage before and would never think of using a tub without seeing this.

[alanjamesblair]

Hey Erin. Huzzah! I made my own 11" wodent-wheel style wheel that Magellan is still very happy with. Made a vid of it too posted somewhere on here if you're interested. I mean, since you have a soldering iron already.