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Post by hazel on Feb 8, 2021 17:35:58 GMT
If you have a sit down and draw exactly what you would like, including vents, levels etc, share it with your friend or us. You may find it's more straightforward than you think! Unless you're looking at something totally out there like my degu palace, it really isn't as hard as you think. I had a cage made of metal shelving! Hm, well, I did draw up plans for a basic cage I'd build entirely myself. It was basically a plain box of wire mesh with a wooden frame and three levels, with a walkway leading up into every level to maximise floor space. At the bottom the wooden frame rose slightly taller before it met the wire mesh, so the degus couldn't as easily kick substrate out of the cage.
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Post by klbishop on Feb 8, 2021 21:39:29 GMT
My partner built a cage out of an old wardrobe, its amazing. 8 foot tall and 1 meter 2 wide, the shelves are regularly moved about and its a fortress. even has a built in fan and up lighters. the most expensive bit was the glass for the front doors. we spent a few weeks building it but it was well worth the effort. also it doesnt look like a cage and fits in with our living room, most people dont even notice until someone runs about
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Post by hazel on Feb 9, 2021 8:23:09 GMT
My partner built a cage out of an old wardrobe, its amazing. 8 foot tall and 1 meter 2 wide, the shelves are regularly moved about and its a fortress. even has a built in fan and up lighters. the most expensive bit was the glass for the front doors. we spent a few weeks building it but it was well worth the effort. also it doesnt look like a cage and fits in with our living room, most people dont even notice until someone runs about Oh, wow! Did you by any chance draw up blueprints? If so, could I have them? What wood is the wardrobe made of? Could I swap the glass for more wire mesh? How much experience did the two of you have before you started? How did you deal with the problem of gnawing?
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Post by bouncy on Feb 9, 2021 10:33:50 GMT
You'll never stop them from kicking stuff out - they will find a way, especially where poops are concerned! My homebuilt palace perspex on two sides, and mesh on two (including the door fronts). They still make lots of mess!
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Post by hazel on Feb 9, 2021 14:27:36 GMT
You'll never stop them from kicking stuff out - they will find a way, especially where poops are concerned! My homebuilt palace perspex on two sides, and mesh on two (including the door fronts). They still make lots of mess! Oh, well. I can at least minimise it
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Post by klbishop on Feb 11, 2021 20:09:32 GMT
Hi Love, it was very much a winging it project but I can ask OH to draw it up. He is a builder and builds hooman homes so I think the goos wasnt to challenging to him. Hazel if you DM your number I woudl be happy to whasapp call to give you a tour of the cage. I havent sussed home to do photos on here - sorry !!
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Post by bouncy on Feb 11, 2021 21:56:35 GMT
You can always email me the photos or video - I already host a LOT of pictures from the forum
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Post by klbishop on Feb 12, 2021 19:09:02 GMT
Bouncy - I will give it a go
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Post by bouncy on Feb 14, 2021 18:58:58 GMT
Here's klbishop's cabinet cage, with a cheeky little goo at the top! And here's one of the ventilation grills (I think).
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Post by hazel on Feb 14, 2021 20:59:41 GMT
Here's klbishop 's cabinet cage, with a cheeky little goo at the top! And here's one of the ventilation grills (I think). Oh, that's lovely, actually. May I have a step-by-step guide?
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Post by klbishop on Feb 15, 2021 11:09:01 GMT
Yep its a vent at the top with an external heater. I will ask partner to do a how to guide
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Post by klbishop on Feb 21, 2021 18:20:52 GMT
ok so we brought a large wardrobe from ebay, took off the cabinet doors and replaced with glass from a glaziers (this was the most expensive bit at 120 pounds). the edge of shelves have metal trim which was pretty inexpensive from wickes. - learnt this the hard way, when they managed to escape.
Using the front door panels, OH cut out the shelves, drilling them into place with screws and brackets we've experimented with joining the bottom and top halves of the cabinet but found for my old boy a wooden box with rungs worked best. otherwise he kept getting stuck at the bottom of the tube.
the vent was a metal grill and we have a heater from a builders merchant on a timer on the outside of the cage. its set to go off if it drops below a set temperature. they love the heat but not so much the noise so nip off when it comes on.
levels are joined together with ramps that are angled to not be too steep and he has made a couple of climbing toys from off cuts of wood. they have a metal bath which is sunk into the floor of one level.
used to have a large lamp in the main space which gave off heat but removed it and replaced with low wattage LED that they cannot reach. the design is pretty versatile so OH reguarly moves shelves about to keep things interesting !
hope that helps. kx
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Post by hazel on Feb 23, 2021 10:40:45 GMT
Does anyone know a metal mesh make degus can't squeeze through?
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Post by bouncy on Feb 23, 2021 11:02:03 GMT
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Post by deguconvert on Feb 23, 2021 18:45:46 GMT
It looks a lot like mosquito screening . . . which is pretty light. A degu only needs to bare their incisors and the screening will part in obedience.
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Post by hazel on Mar 1, 2021 10:19:02 GMT
I don't actually have any degus yet. I'm going to pick them up from the RSPCA once it's safe.
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