Curious about stilts

[cloudy]

I was wondering why multi chamber hides never come with legs that can be screwed in like platforms do. I cannot think of any particular reason so thought I would ask on here. I understand you do not want a hamster to be able to chew through to screws so maybe it is that.

I was browsing a German hamster forum earlier and saw they recommend attaching brackets to the cage and placing things on top so no stilts are needed at all.

[Pebbles82]

Rodipet do sell legs that fit their houses. They’re not great - I find them stiff and fiddly but they’re ok. Before that I just used to use dowels (about half a cm diameter) and glue then on. For that you need to use safe wood glue. Ponal was the one used in German hamster forums so I’ve always used that and it’s very good. Strong enough wood glue to firmly glue legs on but no real odour and pet safe. Having said that, previous discussions came to the conclusion that any glue was safe once hardened and no fumes left - providing it wasn’t visible to be chewed etc.

Despite that I stick with ponal as no fumes - it’s virtually odourless. It’s not as difficult as it sounds either - I’d just have the kegs long enough that they went up the front of the house so a longer area to glue then to (as opposed to just the little round top bit of the legs glued to the underneath ),

Brackets sounds quite fiddly but I guess it’s one way if you have a cage you can screw into - can’t see how that would support all four sides though.

To be honest I preferred my glue on dowels to the Rodipet legs but I got lazy . I still have a supply of the dowels though - they are cheap to buy - and I bought a tiny little saw about the size of a kitchen knife which cuts through then to cut them to size.

I linked it recently but have a photo of the dowel legs on one of the Rodipet houses. The advantage of them is you can put the legs where you want - it varies due to type of house and type of cage. So for a barred cage with a sloping base at the sides I’d have the dowels at the front and sides with the back resting on the edge of the cage base. If you want the house to sit lower than that it’s more fiddly as you ‘d have to work out measurements for shorter legs at the back so they could rest on the curved base.

[Pebbles82]

These are the dowels I use

Amazon.co.uk

And the ponal glue

Amazon.co.uk

[Pebbles82]

This was the first one I did for Charlie in the Barney cage. In this instance the house was resting on the edge of the cage base at two sides - the back and one side - so I only glued legs at the front and part way along the other side (so it didn't get fouled up on the curved base). This worked really well - as you can see, the dowels extend up the front of the house but I think look ok. So no glue chewable as it's all above the leg level (ie on the front of the house) and gave added strength to the legs as they were glued to a larger surface area.

Charlie did partially chew through one of the dowel legs! So you do need to keep an eye on things. It still wouldn't have fallen over as supported on the other three sides. And even though he chewed it, he could only chew wood - no glue on the actual legs themselves.

For other hamsters I didn't have the house as high as sitting on the cage base so had legs at the front and two sides with slightly shorter leg at one side where it rested on the curved base.

These were actually much better than the rodipet ones (linked below) - they are ok but due to the slot on design, part of the legs protrudes inside the house and that seems to annoy some hamsters! And makes placement difficult - eg you don't want a leg protruding in the toilet compartment or the toilet won't fit - or in the nesting compartment as they find it annoying and gnaw at it.

They're also much harder to cut if you don't want them quite so long - takes a proper saw!

Attachment 53635

Attachment 53636

Attachment 53637

As you can see, the house could stand up on it's own even with three legs . Two at the front and one at the side and with substrate around that keeps it stable as well - it can't subside.

It looks like rodipet have stopped selling the legs/stilts that go with their houses. Can't see them on the website any more. But they looked like this - this pet shop is selling them at an extortionate price!

Rodipet(R) Set of 4 Stilts, 6mm to fit Davinci line of house



– SgPetstop

[Pebbles82]

I think the main reason they don't come with screw in legs is because house design is different to platform design in that the house is open underneath and the "walls" quite narrow - they would protrude into the cage too much.

I find the dowel legs very quick and easy once you get used to it. I would cut those 30cm dowels to about 23cm to 25cm long. 10cm of that was the height of the house, meaning there was about 13 to 15cm substrate underneath the house. If I did the full 25cm (to leave 15cm substrate) the house often sat higher than the substrate level you could fit into a cage base (easier with a tank though) but there were ways round that.

[cloudy]

Thank you Serendipity. I thought the sides could be made thicker to accomadate legs that can be screwed in. I find stilts do not really stay in once I pick up the item. I think your idea of gluing them or dowels is better. I do not think the Happy Henry stilts stay in very well.

[Pebbles82]

I also find the stilts stay behind sometimes when lifting out the house! The Rodipet ones. And did prefer my glued on dowels. It was an easy option buying the rodipet legs but they are a fiddle and I had to cut mine down a bit which was a bit of a nightmare as they're rock hard and quite thick!

[Pebbles82]

On that photo above, the one at the front is set in a bit rather than being at the corner. That was to avoid it sitting on the curved cage base at that side. Otherwise I'd have had it at the edge/corner like the one on the other side.

Last time I did it I had two at the front like that one on the right - and two at the side - that held up fine even without the back having any.

[cloudy]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

On that photo above, the one at the front is set in a bit rather than being at the corner. That was to avoid it sitting on the curved cage base at that side. Otherwise I'd have had it at the edge/corner like the one on the other side.

Last time I did it I had two at the front like that one on the right - and two at the side - that held up fine even without the back having any.

It is really clever of you to work out how to do that. In future I will also glue on dowels. When I lift the dig bix up the stilts fall off as does the multi chamber. I now see that is usual for stilt designs.

[Pebbles82]

I'm wondering if Rodipet are going to go bust actually. There is less and less on their website all the time. The legs have gone, the wood wheels have gone and they only have a couple of maze houses left - all the smaller ones seem to have gone. That would be a shame as I do prefer their stuff to Getzoo (who still seem to sell absolutely everything).