Tips for DIY Cages?

[KID COYOTE]

Hi! I made an account on here just for this purpose, ahaha. I'm preparing for my chinchilla (which I'm picking up on Saturday) and plan on building my own cage. I've done plenty of research but I'm on a tighter budget than what a lot of DIY tutorials suggest.
To cut a long story short I was thinking of using plywood for the outer shell of the cage. I've read in most places that the glue in plywood is unsafe but since I'm simply using it for the exterior I figured it might be okay? For the record I won't be using plywood for the shelving or anything like that. I'm a first time chinchilla owner so I'd love for one of you more adept chin-parents to help me out. Thanks so much in advance!

-- Shania

[ntg]

Hi Shania, plywood for the exterior is fine, most chins either can't or won't bother biting the walls... If you do notice them chewing it, a lot of people with degus just use aluminium sheet metal to patch up the spots they're chewing.

Alternatively, you could use melamine-faced chipboard or furnitureboard which is easily wiped clean compared to plywood.

Out of curiosity, what are you planning for the cage for dimensions and layout? I'm planning a chin cage build myself in the future and I'm always on the lookout for ideas

[natnat899]

Welcome to the forum and Merry Christmas!

You have come to the perfect forum for cage building - There is an abundance of advice for DIY cages on the degu section of the forum - it’s definitely worth a read through!

From what I have read plywood is perfectly fine to use, as long as the chinchillas cannot chew the wood - ie all the edges are covered and the wood is completely smooth.

There are a lot of threads in “cages, housing and accessories” that I am sure you will find very useful - one of the main ones is:

deguworld.proboards.com/thread/18718/guides-diy-cage

If you need any advise or have any questions don’t be afraid to ask - everyone is really friendly on this forum