Ikea platsa

[otto]

Originally Posted by sushi_78

Thank you. I was thinking of, rather than replacing one wood panel entirely with acrylic, cutting out a window and attaching acrylic over that. It could be thinner then, since it wouldn't be supporting as much weight.

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.)

[otto]

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.

Due to this post being my first I had to get it approved by mods and then ran out of time for the editing window. I see you live in the UK, so what I said about the VARD applies to any international readers, but I guess you always have the option of looking for one second hand!
Anyway, here are some images of the cage. Please excuse the lack of hides on the top layer, it’s a work in progress, and also any mess Otto has made. I’ve included some with the lid and without. The lid needs a lick of paint. As I said, all a work in progress!
706BB372-B479-4A22-8915-48A201FE4B6A.jpeg

[sushi_78]

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.)

Wow, thank you! Your cage looks amazing.

[cloudy]

Originally Posted by otto

Due to this post being my first I had to get it approved by mods and then ran out of time for the editing window. I see you live in the UK, so what I said about the VARD applies to any international readers, but I guess you always have the option of looking for one second hand!
Anyway, here are some images of the cage. Please excuse the lack of hides on the top layer, it’s a work in progress, and also any mess Otto has made. I’ve included some with the lid and without. The lid needs a lick of paint. As I said, all a work in progress!
Attachment 53292

Your set up looks brilliant!

[heidii]

Originally Posted by otto

Due to this post being my first I had to get it approved by mods and then ran out of time for the editing window. I see you live in the UK, so what I said about the VARD applies to any international readers, but I guess you always have the option of looking for one second hand!
Anyway, here are some images of the cage. Please excuse the lack of hides on the top layer, it’s a work in progress, and also any mess Otto has made. I’ve included some with the lid and without. The lid needs a lick of paint. As I said, all a work in progress!
Attachment 53292

Your lid is beautiful. What mesh did you use? I still haven't got a lid on neptr's and it's quote scary when redecorating because he is a really big Pedigree boy.

And did you have any issues with it, as there was those little white bits that stick out on the top? Or did you fille them down/attach another way?

[otto]

Originally Posted by cloudy

Your set up looks brilliant!

Originally Posted by heidii

Your lid is beautiful. What mesh did you use? I still haven't got a lid on neptr's and it's quote scary when redecorating because he is a really big Pedigree boy.

And did you have any issues with it, as there was those little white bits that stick out on the top? Or did you fille them down/attach another way?

Thank you so much all of you, really appreciate it! I used some ‘mosquito netting’ from B&Q, though it’s much thicker than you’d think from the name. It’s a thin white plastic. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as robust as wire would be, but it seems to do the trick at keeping him in, as also he have to get past the wood overhang first. You’re very brave not keeping a lid on, we were going to see if we could get away with for the first couple of nights but it became quickly apparent that we could in fact not- mine’s an boy athletic that’s for sure lol, and he’s only tiny!

No, not really- just added effort. We had two options, either file them down as you said so the lid could rest on top, or cut corresponding holes out the top of the lid for the white bits to stick into. We went for the latter, I prefer it as it keeps everything together- and you can hear an audible click when everything is down and secure which is nice if you have to stay in the dark to interact with your hamster (... Otto is very, very timid paha). It also means nothing slides around, and it just gives me a better frame of mind.

[AmityvilleHams]

Originally Posted by heidii

I still haven't got a lid on neptr's and it's quote scary when redecorating because he is a really big Pedigree boy.

Having a proper secure lid is absolutely essential to hamster safety unfortunately. It's really not something you can wait on and it is something which really is absolutely mandatory for hamsters. It would honestly be in your hamster's best interest to at least put him in a temporary completely secure cage until you get an actual lid on his permanent cage.

Even if you think your hamster will never escape, it's never worth the risk. Hamsters will find a way no matter what and they absolutely can escape even if you think you've gotten rid of all potential escape risks. They'll even push all the substrate into one area and get out that way if they so desire, and there's absolutely no way to always keep watch 24/7, and they certainly can find ways to escape from entire rooms - even if you think you've hamster proofed one!

I unfortunately had to learn that lesson the hard way. Many others did too. Luckily for me it didn't become a heartbreaking tragedy, but it very nearly did.

[heidii]

We will be making a lid for it the same time we make a lid for the Detolf. There is 0 way of him getting out of the cage, there's over 10 inches stopping him. Unless he learns to scale a smooth wall, I'm not massively worried about him getting out, especially as he's had this setup for months. With that being said, I will still make a lid, just in due time. He would rather be in this cage over some other small plastic temp. There's nothing he can shift to get bedding to be any higher, it's all in the layout of his cage.

I've spent quite a bit of money on hamster proofing, even before I got Neptr, as escape wasn't an option for him. Initially, I was pretty worried, but I will make a lid soon enough.

[AmityvilleHams]

Unfortunately everything I said is still completely true. Hamsters can and will move things around to escape if they're determined enough and 10 inches or even more is not going to ever fully prevent that, regardless of cage layout. They can also be surprisingly strong and capable of moving far heavier things than we'd expect!

It doesn't matter how much you've spent in terms of time or money on hamster proofing, escape is and always will be a possibility if you're not careful. This is absolutely a required part of responsible ownership, one I cannot possibly emphasize enough. As I've already said, it's best to just put him in something temporary for now regardless of how you think he'll feel for his own safety. You should never have a hamster in a cage without a lid or that isn't otherwise 100% secure under any circumstances, absolutely no exceptions to that whatsoever.

[sushi_78]

Maybe until you've made a proper lid, you could put something round the edges of the cage that overhangs, such as some lengths of wood. That way, if he does manage to jump up, there isn't an edge for him to grab onto to escape.

Alternatively, some large pieces of mesh, even if they aren't cut to size or made into a proper lid yet, weighted down, would make it safer