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Post by ryanj on Sept 27, 2015 7:06:26 GMT
Hello!
So me and my partner are beginning to think about building our own cage for the girls. We're not sure yet whether we'll tackle it ourselves or hire a carpenter, either way it'll be done in the next 2-3 months (hopefully).
Once the boy pups have been re-homed we'll have 5 girls so we need a cage that is big enough for them.
Ideas and suggestions are very much welcome at this point!
Size recommendations?
Do we get an Ikea unit and modify it?
We'll hopefully start on a design soon :-)
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Post by Maravilla on Sept 27, 2015 7:36:34 GMT
What is the biggest size you could provide? For 5 animals, especially with so many pups, try to make it as big as possible. You don't know if you won't have to split it some day because the youngsters cause troubles. For 5 degus I would try to build something with at least 2,5 sqm total area. Make sure that the unit fulfils the minimum size requirements. Here, several owners used the PAX wardrobe, but: the lengths (100cm) is the outside lengths, so to be honest, it is to short if you only use one. But you can use 2 and connect them. |
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Post by ryanj on Sept 27, 2015 8:15:01 GMT
What is the biggest size you could provide? Width we could probably only manage about 120-130cm max. The height could have a bit more to offer...we could could have something around 250cm or more. So that could offer many levels I guess. Depth could probably stretch to 50cm, but ideally 40cm. Thanks for the advice Maravilla! |
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Post by Maravilla on Sept 27, 2015 8:45:15 GMT
Depth could probably stretch to 50cm, but ideally 40cm. Ideally for the degus would be at least 50 cm. So if you can provide this, do it. You will see that in some case you will need this. My personal minimum is 60 cm as we have flying saucers with a diameter of 45 cm and houses 40x40 cm. Those we could not put in a smaller cage. |
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 27, 2015 16:36:04 GMT
It's best to build from scratch unless you already have a suitable piece of furniture for conversion, it's not usually cost effective to buy one especially. If you are nervous about construction and strength, you can use vertical battens in each corner up the full height which will make all your connections really strong, or you can keep the construction simple and just use thicker wood for the carcase back and sides. You have tons of options to think about, start looking at the materials guide deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17316/cage-materials I would recommend plywood for the back and sides and melamine faced chipboard for the base and shelves. Another big choice is mesh doors or glass doors, mesh allows good ventilation and some interaction without opening the doors, glass looks good and keeps all the mess in. 120 to 130cm length will be great. Give some thought to do the depth, 40cm is the absolute minimum, as Maravilla says, it really restricts what you can put in the cage. If you go for 120cm by 50cm, then you need 4 levels to achieve our minimum recommended area for 5 degus. 120x50=6000 x4=24,000 sq cm (2.4sq m)) If you allow 40cm per level, you are looking at a height of 160cm. So I think you have good scope to build something great, even at 45cm deep you can add an extra level or two with the height you have a available. |
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Post by Bexi87 on Sept 27, 2015 17:21:17 GMT
I looked into getting a cage made professionally and the quotes I got were astronomical, so I just planned the build as much as I could, searched the web for tips and built It myself. I get a rush of pride everytime I look at my cage - I designed and built it myself and I'm not a DIY'er really. Oops, forgot to say. My cage is 40cm deep - it is in an alcove and 40cm is the max I could fit. I've not struggled to fit anything in but I don't have a flying saucer. And I only have 3 girls  |
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Post by ryanj on Sept 28, 2015 15:53:30 GMT
Thank both so much for your help and advice. I think we will build from scratch - we'll need to get some money together and begin a design. I'll try and post an idea on here once we have one :-)
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 28, 2015 16:29:43 GMT
For cost effectiveness of your design, also bear in mind the sizes that the sheets of wood come in, so big sheets of ply or mdf come in 2.4x1.2m sheets, and melamine board comes in various standard sizes up to about 2.4m x0.6m
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Post by ryanj on Sept 30, 2015 19:36:41 GMT
Well great news! My Dad, who is pretty good with DIY, has offered to help in the building of the girls new cage. He even said he'd be happy to get the materials for us. All I need to do is come up with a design!
So far I have the cage dimensions - H = 200cm, L = 120cm, W 50cm
I'm thinking there will be 4 levels with a 5th base level, of which half will be a tank for the nest box, and the other half for us a store cupboard. What do you think?
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Post by krazypara3165 on Oct 1, 2015 15:44:42 GMT
Sounds good, I'm currently building one myself (albeit smaller than your plans) I've made a few mistakes and found some bits and bobs at a reasonable price that should help. maybe worth a look |
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Post by Bexi87 on Oct 1, 2015 16:33:58 GMT
Those are pretty much the same measurements than mine, although mine is probably a little bit shorter in height.
One thing I learnt quickly was if you are putting it on carpet, put some thin board under it otherwise it will sink into the carpet and when it's full you can't move it. At all!
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 1, 2015 17:03:10 GMT
Sounds good If you keep a couple of the levels nice and deep at around 40cm to fit a couple of wheels and any other big stuff in, you might be able to make the spacings a bit smaller for the others and fit another half shelf or something at the top. |
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Post by ryanj on Oct 1, 2015 19:10:40 GMT
Thanks guys.
dingle87 - We have wooden floors and we're debating whether to put it on 4 very tough wheels... not sure yet though.
moletteuk - Yeah we have been thinking about doing that actually. We'll see how it goes. It the mean time we're gonna try and find a tank for the nest box - preferably 40cm each way (to allow room).
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 2, 2015 9:49:36 GMT
Maybe you could just build in the nest area as part of the design? If you are thinking of a deep filled digging type thing, you could just put an extra deep front on that area, you could make the front removable for cleaning by having it slide in from above, maybe partially glass so you can see what is going on?
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