DIY Cage - Ikea Regissor Bookcase

[DanniDorrito]

My boyfriend and I decided to start a DIY project for the hamsters. With our latest addition and a planned one next year, we needed to start planning some better homes for them.
I've been looking at all the DIY cages I have come across to get as much research and information on them as possible, its going to be a big project but will be totally worth it in the end.
We were originally going to go with the Ikea Kallax/Expedit shelving unit but when we saw the small and medium size in person it didn't seem as big as we wanted. The large was too wide for the space we wanted to fit it in.

My main concern throughout the the project will be ventilation and ensuring it is completely hamster friendly.

After a bit of browsing we came across this gorgeous bookcase called the Regissor. Its a little more pricy than the Kallax at $199, but definitely worth it.
The overall size is H 203cm (79 7/8") x W 78cm (30 3/4") x D 38cm (15") so its a pretty awesome bookcase!



The plan is to use three shelves for three Syrians (One home each) and the other shelves as storage. Its roughly around 420 square inches of space per shelf, not bad!
We plan to not use the back panel and instead use plexiglass and some LED lights.

So the first day we brought:
The bookcase
Storage boxes
Metallic adhesive film
Non-toxic sealant
Plexiglass
Screws
U Channels
Air vents
Plastic cutter
Came to around $500 in total so far.

-=-=-=-

We started with setting up the storage bins, Marbles wasn't so impressed by them.



Then we started on the bookcase by covering the main inner shelf walls with the film, it will keep the wood waterproof and better protect it.



Again, Marbles wasn't much of a help here either. He would just sit in his ball and watch us do all the work.



Took us a while to get all the foil on both panels, but it looked great at the end. Where the lines are will be where the shelves will go. We decided one of the shelves will not be added so there's more space for the other shelves.



We also cut the U Channels for the sliding doors on the front, also need some shorter ones cut yet though.



That was one nights work, we ran out of Metallic Foil so couldn't continue anymore. The foil is pretty expensive too at $20 a roll, but will totally be worth it.

We've actually picked up two more rolls of foil so I can work on the shelves some more tonight or tomorrow! I will be posting my updates as the project progresses!