Hi there,
I'm making a double cage similar to this one from Hammy Time:
The main differences are the following:
Both cages will be 120cm x 60cm x 60cm
The full piece will be 160cm in height instead of 140cm
Both cages will have cut to size 3mm glass of 120cm x 60cm x 60cm
There will be no side holes, wallpaper or lights like on Hammy Time's cage
The reason I'm posting here is because I'm unsure whether my choice of wood thickness was the right one...
Instead of buying the wood from IKEA, I decided to buy from Selco since it would be a lot more cost efficient and I could ask them to cut all the pieces of wood for me (I don't have a saw). I ended up buying 12mm Poplar Plywood since there wasn't any thicker.
After buying and having it all cut, my boyfriend's father called him saying that the bottom of our top cage could start to sag...
Do you think it will sag? What can we do to make sure the double cage will stand strong?
I think the bottoms of both cages may sag due to the weight of all the bedding and other cage contents. I had this issue with my Living World Eco Habitat which is a 100cm cage on wheels. I fixed it by adding additional wheels apart from the four at the corners to provide more support. I think the base should also probably be thicker than 12mm.
For the top cage, you might actually need some kind of metal bracing.
This cage makes me a bit nervous to be honest. It looks lovely, but I'm not sure how structurally sound it is especially when made of Ikea panels which are often compacted cardboard with a plastic veneer.
The height also worries me. That top cage is going to be incredibly heavy and the whole thing could quite easily topple over, potentially onto a pet or person. It needs to be fixed to the wall to be safe (which defeats the purpose of the wheels).
Have you considered making the cages separately and placing them on a heavy duty garage shelving unit? It will be better designed for such heavy objects.
The reason I'm making them stacked is because of lack of space, can't do them separately.
Regarding the bottom cage, I'm adding 6 or even 8 wheels to the base to avoid sagging.
I'm not using IKEA wood on this, I'm using 12mm thick Plywood. What kind of metal bracing could I add?
I wanted to make a pretty double cage instead of 2 cages and a table or something like that. It would also be more affordable as well.
I have already invested money on the wood and cutting for this so I'd like to not waste all of that... What can I do?
The reason I'm making them stacked is because of lack of space, can't do them separately.
Regarding the bottom cage, I'm adding 6 or even 8 wheels to the base to avoid sagging.
I'm not using IKEA wood on this, I'm using 12mm thick Plywood. What kind of metal bracing could I add?
I wanted to make a pretty double cage instead of 2 cages and a table or something like that. It would also be more affordable as well.
I have already invested money on the wood and cutting for this so I'd like to not waste all of that... What can I do?
With the shelving unit, I was thinking of something vertical where youbcan have one cage on each shelf. So similar to the DIY cage, but sturdier.
I'm not sure about the metal bracing. It's probably best to run it past a carpenter as it's quite a big project.
If you end up making the cage, I would recommend fixing it to thr wall which also means leaving the wheels off. It doesn't seem safe to me otherwise.
With the shelving unit, I was thinking of something vertical where youbcan have one cage on each shelf. So similar to the DIY cage, but sturdier.
I'm not sure about the metal bracing. It's probably best to run it past a carpenter as it's quite a big project.
If you end up making the cage, I would recommend fixing it to thr wall which also means leaving the wheels off. It doesn't seem safe to me otherwise.
I left a post in a carpentry forum asking for help. I thought about the shelving unit but after I saw this build online, it looked much better than going down the shelving unit route.
I'm willing to buy thicker wood for the sides and bases if that helps. Will see what the people at the carpentry forum say...
The build on the video looked so good and something not impossible to do if I'm following the steps, but now I feel a bit foolish