Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2012 22:06:39 GMT
As some of you may know, I have planned a wooden cage for a few months now,
seeing as I am not happy with my metal one which is both too small and horrible
to clean
So, after a long time in the making, here are the first steps of my new and lovely DIY
cage! The intro to this can be read in my blog: deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=blogs&action=display&thread=9035&page=3 (scroll down about half way).
This was my original drawing of the cage:
These are the sheets of OSB made from Scottish pine that I bought to build the cage from:
On Thursday, my boyfriend and I went shopping for the rest of the materials needed.
We got several meters of kiln dried pine strips (for spots that will be chewed and doors),
strong wire mesh meant for foxes and lots of screws, bolts and that sort of thing.
We also got linoleum for the platforms, which I really like since it is almost the same colour
as my bedding I wouldn't have minded the colour really, but I do like it when things match ^^
After that, we spent the evening assembling the main frame.
I had already cut out the windows in the side walls, so we simply had to attach the wire mesh
to the inside. Then we attached the side walls to the back wall. We then attached the wheels to
the bottom and screwed that onto the walls. Here is what we had at the end of Thursday:
On Friday, we spent ten hours at the garage assembling all the small stuff, which took a lot longer
than expected! We cut out holes in the platforms and attached the linoleum to them. Then we cut long
strips of aluminium (made for staircases) up into smaller pieces and attached them to the insides of the
holes, so that they cannot chew the edges.
The front is all made up of 4 frames. Each frame has two windows, while the lower edge of the frames will
ensure that no bedding gets out. I bought strips of kiln dried pine and attached them to the inside of the
frames, just below where the doors will go. This is simply because I know these areas will be attacked by
degu teeth very soon...
Then it was all a matter of attaching the front frames to the side walls while leaving enough space for the
platforms in between. Each platform has a strip of pine attached to it, and then there is a handle attached
to the strip, so that I can drag the entire platform out like a drawer.
Each platform rests on 50cm long strips of aluminium, one on each side. Lucky for me, my dad sells these
(they are for floors originally), so I got them free as "samples"
At 11:30 pm on Friday my bf and were exhausted, so we had to abandon the hope of getting it done that
day and decided to go back to the garage today (Saturday). Back we went, and this time we actually managed
to get it done – at least all the stuff we had to do at the garage. We attached all the front frames and the
aluminium supports, finished up the platforms and stapled wire mesh to the roof (which was done after the
picture below was taken):
After that, I sanded all the surfaces to make them smooth and even and ready for painting. We went and
bought paint, a kind called Jotun Sens, a water-based acrylic paint made especially for people suffering from
asthma and allergies, so it gives of very little fumes and other bad stuff you normally get from paint.
I'll give the coat a base layer, then two layers of a nice colour I found
It dries quickly as well (2 hours),
so I should be able to do that in a day.
The only thing that remains now is the doors. It's going to take a few days with the glue and all,
so it will probably be a little while until I can attach them to the cage and show you all the finished
results. But so far I am really pleased with this new cage! It looks huge and very comfortable, especially
compared to my current metal cage. Once it's done I'll put them side by side and take a photo for comparison.
That's it for now I think, I'll update again once I finish the doors Let me know what you think, and especially
if you have any suggestions for further improvement or notice any obvious flaws I might have missed!
seeing as I am not happy with my metal one which is both too small and horrible
to clean
So, after a long time in the making, here are the first steps of my new and lovely DIY
cage! The intro to this can be read in my blog: deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=blogs&action=display&thread=9035&page=3 (scroll down about half way).
This was my original drawing of the cage:
These are the sheets of OSB made from Scottish pine that I bought to build the cage from:
On Thursday, my boyfriend and I went shopping for the rest of the materials needed.
We got several meters of kiln dried pine strips (for spots that will be chewed and doors),
strong wire mesh meant for foxes and lots of screws, bolts and that sort of thing.
We also got linoleum for the platforms, which I really like since it is almost the same colour
as my bedding
I wouldn't have minded the colour really, but I do like it when things match ^^After that, we spent the evening assembling the main frame.
I had already cut out the windows in the side walls, so we simply had to attach the wire mesh
to the inside. Then we attached the side walls to the back wall. We then attached the wheels to
the bottom and screwed that onto the walls. Here is what we had at the end of Thursday:
On Friday, we spent ten hours at the garage assembling all the small stuff, which took a lot longer
than expected! We cut out holes in the platforms and attached the linoleum to them. Then we cut long
strips of aluminium (made for staircases) up into smaller pieces and attached them to the insides of the
holes, so that they cannot chew the edges.
The front is all made up of 4 frames. Each frame has two windows, while the lower edge of the frames will
ensure that no bedding gets out. I bought strips of kiln dried pine and attached them to the inside of the
frames, just below where the doors will go. This is simply because I know these areas will be attacked by
degu teeth very soon...
Then it was all a matter of attaching the front frames to the side walls while leaving enough space for the
platforms in between. Each platform has a strip of pine attached to it, and then there is a handle attached
to the strip, so that I can drag the entire platform out like a drawer.
Each platform rests on 50cm long strips of aluminium, one on each side. Lucky for me, my dad sells these
(they are for floors originally), so I got them free as "samples"
At 11:30 pm on Friday my bf and were exhausted, so we had to abandon the hope of getting it done that
day and decided to go back to the garage today (Saturday). Back we went, and this time we actually managed
to get it done – at least all the stuff we had to do at the garage. We attached all the front frames and the
aluminium supports, finished up the platforms and stapled wire mesh to the roof (which was done after the
picture below was taken):
After that, I sanded all the surfaces to make them smooth and even and ready for painting. We went and
bought paint, a kind called Jotun Sens, a water-based acrylic paint made especially for people suffering from
asthma and allergies, so it gives of very little fumes and other bad stuff you normally get from paint.
I'll give the coat a base layer, then two layers of a nice colour I found
It dries quickly as well (2 hours), so I should be able to do that in a day.
The only thing that remains now is the doors. It's going to take a few days with the glue and all,
so it will probably be a little while until I can attach them to the cage and show you all the finished
results. But so far I am really pleased with this new cage! It looks huge and very comfortable, especially
compared to my current metal cage. Once it's done I'll put them side by side and take a photo for comparison.
That's it for now I think, I'll update again once I finish the doors
Let me know what you think, and especiallyif you have any suggestions for further improvement or notice any obvious flaws I might have missed!
